


The Road Between the Walls

by Keiko Kirin (sakana17)



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Aliens Make Them Do It, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-05-09
Updated: 2002-05-09
Packaged: 2017-10-03 18:35:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sakana17/pseuds/Keiko%20Kirin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack and Daniel are trapped on a planet with some odd customs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Road Between the Walls

**Author's Note:**

> Content includes unwanted sexual attention.

Too much going on, too much to do. Now. Quickly. Before they found Jack. Before Jack died.

Major Nicholson made it through with Sam and Teal'c, just before the event horizon disengaged. They, at least, were safe. There had been a moment when Daniel thought Teal'c wouldn't obey Jack's order to retreat. And Daniel was sure that if Teal'c had seen Jack go down after that last explosion, Teal'c wouldn't have left.

Daniel had seen. But he was trying not to relive that image: Jack falling, the spray of blood. Right now, all he had to do was reach Jack before the attackers spotted him, see if Jack was still alive, and move his body somewhere safe. Do it now. Quickly, while there was still enough confusion.

There was a dead man, a local, lying on the ground a few feet away. Daniel was able to get to him, pull his cloak off, and put it on. He kept low as he scrambled the twenty yards or so to where Jack was face down on the cobbled road. An awful, bitter smell of burning chemicals assaulted him, coming from the MALP. Daniel started to choke, covered his mouth and nose with one hand, and squatted beside Jack.

He touched Jack's neck and felt for a pulse. How did Sam do it so quickly, he wondered, moving and pressing his fingers, trying to find the right spot. Not allowing himself to think that there was no pulse to find. No. Jack was alive. Jack couldn't be dead.

Finally, yes, he found a pulse. Seemed strong, in his layman's opinion. He shook Jack's shoulder and spoke to him, trying to wake him. No response. Daniel glanced around. The troop of armed men were going around, checking the bodies and dragging the corpses away. Daniel had to act fast. He rolled Jack onto his back and drew the cowl of the cloak forward. He took a deep breath, stood up, gripped Jack's wrists, and dragged him away as quickly as he could. He didn't look around. _Just pretend you know what you're doing and no one will stop you_.

Somewhere safe. Safe was a relative concept right now. Daniel made it to the carts that were lined up next to the massive stone wall. He pushed Jack's body under one of them, out of sight, and crouched behind the cart. Now he let himself catch his breath and peered out at the scene.

The stargate stood at the end of a huge, cobbled road that stretched out in a straight line as far as the eye could see. Thick stone walls rose up on either side of the road, about two stories high. The walls branched off into a giant square around the gate. At the end of the square, behind the gate, was a giant livestock pen, filled with hay and cattle. There were a few structures clustered near the pen -- dwellings or storehouses, not very large, made of stone. The soldiers were using them. So Daniel had headed for these wooden carts -- four-wheeled, covered with square tents wide enough for two people, but not very big.

It was the road that had fascinated Daniel when he saw the pictures from the MALP. The scale of it was incredible. It must have taken thousands of workers decades to build. Unless there was technology here to do the job. That was what SG-6 had been sent to find out, while SG-1 continued their search for a suitable planet for the Enkarans.

Then came the distress call, just as SG-1 had geared up and were preparing to embark for P5S-381, next on their list of possibilities. SG-6 had been ambushed. Hammond sent SG-1.

What they found was chaos. Warriors armed with swords. Arrows filling the air. Unarmed locals screaming and running. Nicholson, Atkins, and Freer pinned down by the DHD. Freer was bleeding from a shoulder wound. Nicholson appeared to have lost a foot. Calhoun had taken cover behind the MALP, an ugly gash in her leg.

The arrival of SG-1 threw the attacking force off enough to draw their aim away from SG-6. Teal'c fired his staff weapon at one of the soldiers aiming for Jack, and the blast sparked more cries and confusion. That's when the attackers brought out their explosives.

They looked like small cannon balls. The locals used them like grenades. One fell short of where Daniel and Jack were using the stargate steps as cover. It went off, blasting into bits a screaming woman running for her life. They were pelted with dirt and rock and flesh made into dust. Jack ordered the retreat.

Freer was able to dial the DHD and send the GDO code. Calhoun had passed out, though. Freer tried to reach her, was surrounded by swordsmen. Atkins lifted Nicholson, and Teal'c rushed to help him. An explosion went off and Atkins went down. More swordsmen swarmed around him.

That's when Daniel spotted the bomb next to the MALP. He started to point it out to Jack, but Jack had already seen it and was racing to reach Calhoun before it went off. He didn't make it. The explosion was more powerful than Daniel imagined it could be, given this society's apparent level of technology. The MALP's arm flew right into Jack. Jack went down.

Still hiding behind the cart, Daniel bent down to check on Jack. Pulse steady. He brushed some dirt from the cut on Jack's forehead. There was a bruise forming around it. He carefully felt for more wounds. On the back of Jack's head he felt the hair matted with sticky blood. He pressed gently, seeking the source, found a smallish bump. There was another cut on Jack's left arm, judging from the rip and the stain darkening the sleeve. That was all Daniel found. Obvious wounds: not too bad. He was more worried about internal injuries now.

He patted Jack's cheek until Jack winced and coughed and turned his head away.

"You're hurt," Daniel said. "How bad?"

Jack squinted, coughing. "Head hurts," he rasped out, then coughed again. "Throat burning."

Daniel remembered the chemical smell. Jack had been breathing that in, whatever it was. He reached under the cloak and found his canteen, and Jack gulped down some water. Jack's voice was stronger as he asked, "Who made it? Report."

"Sam and Teal'c and Nicholson."

There was shouting going on now, and heavy sounds, like stones being dragged. From under the cart, Daniel could see men's boots moving, marching.

Jack reached up and touched the cut on his forehead and winced. "They'll send a rescue team," he said, closing his eyes again. A loud scraping sound came from beyond the carts, then a low, deep thud. The ground shook. "What's going on?" Jack asked hoarsely.

Daniel slowly stood up and looked out.

"Uh oh."

"Uh oh?"

Daniel sank down to the ground. "They've just taken the stargate. It's flat on a giant cart." He stared at the cobblestones. "They're taking it away."

Jack was quiet for a moment. "Oh, crap," he muttered, breaking into another coughing spell.

When it subsided, Daniel let Jack rest. What were they going to do now? All he could think of was that they had to follow the gate. What good this would do them without a DHD or a power supply to dial manually, he had no idea. But the gate was the only way home.

The noises in the square had quieted. Daniel chanced another look. The cart carrying the gate was moving steadily down the road, followed by soldiers, carts, people. Across the square, more people were loading their carts with small bundles of clothes or food and hitching oxen to them. They could lose their hiding place, Daniel realized.

He woke Jack up again and helped him crawl out from under the cart. Jack coughed and seemed bleary, but took in the situation quickly. He found a cloak inside the cart and pulled it on. Together they made it to the pen and found two docile oxen who followed willingly, like they'd been waiting for this all along. Soldiers were still patrolling the square as they hitched the oxen to the cart. Jack and Daniel kept their heads down.

When they were done, most of the square was empty. Only a handful of carts, people, and oxen remained. A few soldiers. Wreckage from the MALP and explosions. Blood stained cobblestones. Daniel checked the carts around them. He found a large pack of food and another bundle, most likely clothes, which he stole and put into their cart.

"The owners are probably dead," he said, resting a hand on the bundle, remembering the horrifying split second when the bomb had gone off right in front of them.

Jack patted his shoulder and climbed onto the driver's seat. "Come on."

Daniel climbed up next to him and was about to take the reins when he heard more shouts from the square. Cold sweat trickled down his face and he slowly glanced back.

The soldiers who were left were piling wood on top of the stargate's platform. More soldiers came out from one of the buildings, carrying bodies. They carried them carefully, and Daniel noticed the bodies were wrapped in a fine white fabric. The soldiers laid the bodies out reverently over the wood and started a fire. It was funeral pyre.

The smoke caused Jack to cough again. "Let's get out of here," he rasped.

More soldiers had emerged from another building, dragging Freer and Atkins between them. Daniel froze. "Wait. Jack. Look."

Freer and Atkins were led to the foot of the steps, below the funeral pyre. The soldiers forced them to kneel. Daniel's gut twisted. Two of the soldiers drew out their long, curved swords. In a flash, it was done. Freer and Atkins's bodies collapsed in a gush of blood. Their heads rolled over the cobblestones.

Daniel turned away. His head buzzed and a sickening heat filled his body, poured into his lungs. He clenched his jaw.

When the buzzing faded, Jack's hand was on his back, reassuring. "Let's go," he said quietly. Daniel pulled on the reins, staring straight ahead. The oxen, apparently knowing exactly what to do, started moving, slowly pulling them away from the carnage and the bitter, acrid smoke of the funeral pyre.

Jack kept dozing off. The cart was moving steadily, not very fast despite Daniel's best efforts with the oxen. Jack's head ached, the cut on his arm stung, and he was haunted by a noxious chemical smell that he could almost taste. When he closed his eyes, he saw two silver blades gleaming in shadowy daylight before sweeping down. He ground his teeth. Freer and Atkins had been good men.

The kicker for Jack was that they didn't even know what the hell had happened here, why SG-6 was ambushed, what they'd done to deserve to die. The universe was a hostile place.

The cart moved in the shadow of the gigantic wall. Jack dozed off again, and when he woke up, they'd stopped.

"It's a checkpoint of some sort," Daniel said, craning his neck to see past the carts in front of them. They were surrounded by carts now, all waiting to get past the bottleneck. One by one they rolled forward, a few inches at a time, in three lines. Jack saw the guards blocking the road, holding their gleaming swords ready.

"Daniel," he said. "Glasses."

Daniel looked at him quizzically, then said, "Oh," and took off his glasses, sliding them under his cloak. Jack found an empty sack stuffed behind their seat and covered his boots with it. The cart rolled closer to the guards.

Everyone was being asked something before going forward. "What are they saying?" Jack asked, keeping his voice low.

"I'm not sure," Daniel said, frowning as he strained to listen. Some people in a cart near theirs were chattering away. "Sounds somewhat like Tocharian, but I can't get a sense of the grammar yet."

The cart moved. They were about fourth in line from the checkpoint. "Daniel," Jack said.

"Shh." Daniel raised a finger and sat forward, listening.

The carts rolled through. They were second in line. Jack heard the guard bark something out. The man in the cart in front of them gibbered something back. The guard checked his cart, then let him pass and waved at them to come forward.

Jack glanced at the guard, noting the sword, knife at his belt, and a bow and arrow slung across his back. He wore a helmet with noseguard, knee-high boots, and his pants and shirt had thick, protective patches of leather sewn on them. The guard barked at Daniel. Under his cloak, Jack fingered his sidearm. Damn MP-5 had been left back in the square; Jack had noticed a soldier picking it up right before Freer and Atkins had been led out.

Daniel repeated the gibberish the man in front of them had said. The guard looked at them. Jack gripped his sidearm. The guard gave Jack a long, assessing look, then looked at Daniel again and raised his eyebrows. He muttered some more gibberish and shrugged a little, and reached into a pouch hanging from his belt. He pulled out two large metal rings painted with white stripes, hung them from a latch attached to the front of the cart, and waved them through. As they rolled by, Jack noticed different colored rings in the guard's pouch.

On the other side, Jack let his sidearm slide back into place in its holster and looked at Daniel. "What did you say?"

"I have no idea."

On this side of the checkpoint, the population of carts seemed to double, and they were crowded by people on foot, from wall to wall. Now people were selling things from the carts. Streaming banners were hoisted, and some of the people on foot were carrying garlands or baskets or long, narrow flags.

"Swap meet?" Jack asked.

Daniel pointed up at the walls. "Look."

High up on the walls were balconies and windows and overhangs. People leaned out of the windows and waved or tossed flowers and coins. The people on the road scrambled for the coins.

"How do they get down?" As soon as Jack asked, he saw up ahead a narrow stone stairway emerging from the wall, curving to hug it. There was a stairway on either side of the road.

Traffic had come to a standstill. Light was fading and the people above lit torches on their balconies. The people in the carts around them started unpacking bundles and lighting little portable stoves. Jack stood up in the cart and tried to see past the crowd to the stargate. He couldn't see anything but a mass of people, animals, tents.

"I guess this is where we camp for the night," said Daniel. He still held the reins, and was looking around a bit dazedly. The last few hours had been a long day. Jack patted his shoulder.

"We need the rest anyway," he said. "We'll eat, and after dinner I'll scout up ahead, see if I can find the gate."

Daniel let go of the reins and climbed over the seat into the back of the cart. "No, I'll do it." He looked up from the bundle of food. "We don't know how bad your injuries are. You better take it easy while you can."

"Daniel. I feel fine." Well, not exactly fine, but not too bad, considering. "Headache mostly."

Daniel had found a sausage and was sniffing it curiously. "Seems okay," he said.

Jack climbed back and joined him, sitting down on the bundled clothes. Daniel cut off some slices of sausage. He sat down, cross-legged.

"I want to get out into the crowd and see if I can pick up more of the language. If we're going to blend in, I have to understand what they're saying." Daniel chewed on a piece of sausage distractedly. "I'm so close, but I can't catch enough of any one conversation."

Jack took a bite of sausage. It was very, very salty and a little tough. The ache in the back of his head pounded some more. He leaned back against the side of the cart, and reached under his cloak for his canteen.

"Damn. No water."

Daniel handed him his canteen. "I'll get more."

Jack nodded and finished his sausage. "Yeah, okay. Find the gate, learn the language, bring back water." He closed his eyes, just for a little bit, just until the pounding in his head receded.

Jack was asleep.

Daniel found some sandals in the cart, took off his boots and socks and changed shoes. He also found some sacks of grain, and opened one to feed the oxen. A woman with a cart next to theirs let the oxen drink from her water trough. Daniel smiled his thanks and made his way through the carts and camps. He couldn't see the stargate through the crowd, so he went over to the stairs and started to climb up one of the walls. At the first landing an armed guard stopped him and sent him back down. Travellers weren't welcome on the wall.

Two old women were sitting on the ground next to the steps, talking to each other and holding out small baskets for coins. Daniel sat down nearby to eavesdrop. He started to pick out words -- "pilgrimage," "thieves," "market," -- but the women spoke quickly, and it was hard to catch more than a few words at a time. He got up and moved around, listening in on conversations as surreptitiously as he could.

He got as far as the head of the line of carts. There tents had been set up, and soldiers were camping. He tried to see beyond the tents -- the stargate had to be there somewhere -- but the soldiers eyed him suspiciously and he decided to turn back and find a place to get water.

As night settled, the road quieted into whispers, the occasional neighing of horses, the scuff of sandals and the clacking of wooden-soled boots on cobblestones. The smell of smoke and roasting meat drifted through the air.

The touch was soft, and Jack kept his eyes closed. Fingers gently combed through his hair, then tentatively touched the cut on his forehead. He heard a metallic jangle as the hand moved, stroked his hair again. A spicy perfume wafted toward him. Warm fingers rested on his cheek.

His first thought was Daniel, and as nice as that idea was, every sense was telling him that this was not Daniel. He opened his eyes and focused in the gloom. A young man with long, wavy blond hair sat back on his heels and smiled at him. He was wearing a loose white shirt over knee-length dark pants and was barefoot. Unarmed. The jangling came from bracelets on both wrists and anklets on his left foot.

Jack sat up. His headache returned with a vengeance and he winced. The young man gibbered something at him and held out a small cloth bag, offering it.

Uh oh. Where was Daniel when you needed him? The stranger was insistent. Jack took the bag and sniffed it. The young man grinned and gibbered some more. Jack took another whiff of the bag. Pungent. It tickled his nose and he sneezed, which only made his headache worse. He flattened his palm over his skull to keep his head from exploding.

The chatty guy shifted and knelt behind Jack. He moved Jack's hand out of the way and ran his fingers through Jack's hair. Jack was about to pull away when the touching changed to massaging, very gentle and slow. Hey, it was working. Whoever the hell this guy was, he knew what he was doing. Jack took another sniff at the bag. Not bad. Smelled good. Relaxing. His headache was disappearing. Jack closed his eyes and floated a little. The steady, soothing massage, the quiet clink of the bracelets, the sweet smell from the bag all pulled at him, lulling.

"Oh!"

Jack opened his eyes. The stranger paused. Daniel stood there for a moment, staring, then climbed into the cart. He was carrying a dripping, wet skin of water stoppered with a wooden plug. He handed it to Jack.

Jack started to say something, although he wasn't sure (a) what to say, and (b) why he felt a need to explain, but Daniel shook his head a little, glancing at the stranger. Jack took a drink of water instead, and the massaging resumed.

The kid gibbered something to Daniel. Daniel said very little back, and all Jack caught from it was, "Danyel." Introductions. Jack glanced back over his shoulder and said, "Jack." Daniel shot him a glare, but the kid smiled and repeated, "Jahkkah."

Yeah, okay, close enough. Jack moved his head around, working the kinks out of his neck and shoulders. Daniel cleared his throat meaningfully and stretched his arms out. He yawned -- a big, fake yawn -- and muttered something. The kid stopped his massage, looked at Jack, and asked him something. Jack shrugged and nodded toward Daniel. The kid narrowed his eyes at Daniel, got up, and climbed out of the cart. Before he left he smiled sweetly at Jack.

Jack stretched and rolled his head from side to side. Headache gone, and he hadn't even known how to say thanks to the kid. He was hungry again and picked up the sausage, cutting off a slice.

Daniel sat back, leaning on a bundle of clothes, and crossed his legs at the ankle. "That was Tennu, by the way."

"Ah." Jack spared some water to rub over the cut on his arm. "Did you find the gate?"

"No. They don't let people up on the walls, and ahead of us is a soldiers' camp."

"I don't like this," Jack said. "We're boxed in, all we have are two nine-millimeters, and we don't know what the hell is going on."

"Actually," Daniel said, taking off his sandals and rubbing his feet, "this is a pilgrimage. I picked up that much." He paused. "I found out something else. That word I said to get us past the guard?"

"Yeah?"

"It, um, means 'prostitute'. Possibly 'camp follower'. It was hard to refine the definition based on the conversation I was listening to."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And? So?"

Daniel glanced at him. "I think I told the guard we were prostitutes."

Jack stared at him for a moment. "Okay. Well. The guard isn't here, so no harm done."

"I guess not," Daniel said quietly. "Although I wonder..." He stretched out and punched the bundle into a pillow.

Jack lay back, resting his head on a sack of grain. "Wonder what?"

"Tennu." Daniel yawned, for real this time. "I think he thought you were my, uh, customer, and was trying to steal you away."

Jack glanced sidelong at Daniel, who had his eyes closed. Jack drummed his fingers on his chest and stared up at the tent. There was a metallic clinking sound, but it was only the harnesses of the oxen.

\-----

Jack was awake when Daniel woke up. He was arranging their boots and gear and hiding them from view. He folded his clothes up and stuck them in an empty sack.

"Someone was snooping around earlier," Jack said. "I didn't want them to see anything they shouldn't."

Daniel nodded, pouring some water into his palm and wiping his face. "What did you do with your vest?"

Jack pulled one shoulder of his cloak down, revealing the vest underneath. "I found some pants in one of the packs." He lifted the hem of the cloak up. He had on loose, knee-length pants tied around his waist with rope, incongruous with the utility belt and the sidearm holster strapped to his thigh.

"I should probably change, too," Daniel said, sitting up and rubbing his neck. He rummaged through the clothing bundles while Jack divvied up a small, hard loaf of bread.

After breakfast, Daniel changed into this planet's fashion of knee-length pants and a loose blue shirt. The pants were a little tight but soft and had enough give to move around in. He also found a small, square purse of sorts that he wore under the shirt and used as a makeshift shoulder holster for his sidearm.

Jack came back from seeing to the oxen. "I think we may be moving pretty soon."

"Let me check your arm," Daniel said, putting on his glasses.

Jack sat patiently while Daniel peered at the cut. It was healing, and didn't look infected or anything, although it was still a deep, purplish red. He touched the cut on Jack's forehead, and Jack winced and pulled away. The bruise was darker today, pretty ugly. Finally he checked the back of Jack's head. He poured some water on a piece of cloth and wiped away dried blood.

"Okay, okay, that's enough," Jack muttered. "I feel fine."

Around their cart people were moving, talking, packing up. Daniel pulled on his cloak and they sat on the driver's bench. Jack took the reins this time. After a slow start, the carts were all moving.

They left the village on the wall, and were surrounded by blank stone now. Daniel wondered about the absence of inscriptions. He hadn't found any system of writing here yet, which was frustrating his progress on the language. He shifted his thoughts to the wall, and moving the stargate, and what kind of pilgrimage this might be.

The going was slow, and dull, and Daniel had drifted into a daydream about relaxing on a lounge chair somewhere quiet, empty, and hot, with only a book for company, when all hell broke loose. Shouts up ahead, and commotion rippling down the line, stopping the carts, upsetting the horses and oxen. And then he saw it -- away in the distance, surprisingly small, silent, but unmistakable: the kawoosh of the stargate engaging.

His first reaction was hope. It was a connection to home. The SGC was looking for them. But the hope died quickly. The gate was horizontal. They couldn't even send a MALP through.

Jack reached under his cloak and tried his radio, speaking quietly. Nothing. Around them everyone was talking fast and loud, excited, and people were standing up on their carts trying to see. Daniel caught most of what they were saying. It was a sign from the gods, blessing the holy pilgrimage.

From the sudden stillness, they could tell when the event horizon disengaged. The steady pace of the carts resumed. Daniel glanced at Jack's profile, which was tight and grim. Jack urged the oxen forward.

"So, Daniel," Jack said after a while. "Have you figured any of this out yet?"

Daniel toyed with a long, thin, flexible stick he'd found under the bench. Belatedly he realized this must be a whip for the oxen.

"Other than that it's a religious event, not really, no," he said. "They worship gods, plural. The gate activating is a holy sign."

"No idea what's at the end of this shindig?"

Daniel picked at the frayed tip of the whip. "Not yet. Without seeing the landscape on the other side of the wall, it's hard to tell, but by the weather, I'm guessing this may be some sort of harvest ritual."

"Hey, for all we know, this may be the dead of winter for these folks. Maybe this is the only weather they've got."

"Yes, but--"

He was cut off by another outbreak of chaos. The stargate engaged again.

They waited on the cart, staring ahead. Jack stood up and tried the radio again. There was a static crackle, then they saw a dark shape in the sky.

"Yes," said Jack under his breath.

Daniel sat up straight, watching the shape get larger as it came toward them. It was the UAV.

Jack sat down and spoke into the radio. "This is SG-1. Do you read?"

Sam's voice crackled back. "Loud and clear, sir."

Daniel glanced around. No one was paying attention to them. Everyone was pointing up at the UAV soaring overhead. They were shouting, confused, frightened.

"The stargate is being transported to an unknown location," Jack reported. "It is horizontal and heavily guarded." He paused. "SG-6 did not make it. Repeat: it's just me and Daniel, Major."

There was a static pause. "Understood, sir," said Sam. "We'll keep in contact until the stargate is out of transit."

"No, Major." Jack looked around at the other carts. "We're in a situation here. We do not want to draw attention. Understood?"

"Yes, sir. I'm sending the UAV ahead to find your destination. I can estimate when you'll arrive and we'll contact you again then. Redirecting UAV now."

Daniel watched the UAV swoop around and fly ahead. It became smaller and smaller. The cries and shouting around them quieted into overlapping, worried conversations. They waited. The carts began to move again. Daniel took the reins. Jack tried the radio, but all he got was static.

After a long time -- at least thirty-eight minutes, had to be -- Daniel looked at Jack. Jack said, "If she didn't get what she needed, she'll send another one through. If she got what she needed, they'll be waiting for us on the other end."

"Yeah." Daniel stared ahead, at the space in the distance where the stargate must be.

The commotion the UAV caused didn't die down immediately. The people around them talked or nervously watched the sky as their journey continued. The shadows lengthened between the walls until it was dark on the road, despite the sunlit sky above.

The pilgrims stopped for the day at a blank area. No stairs, no village, just wall and road. Jack and Daniel left the cart and wove through the crowd toward the front. Soldiers' tents blocked the way, and swordsmen paced in front of them. On the way back, they discovered why the pilgrimage had stopped here: water. There were recesses built into both walls, sheltering large, deep pools of water. Travellers were filling their jugs and skins and wooden buckets.

Daniel stopped at one of the pools and decided to stay and eavesdrop. Pick up more of the lingo. Jack took a bucket of water back to the oxen.

When he reached the cart, the kid -- Tanoo? Timmu? -- was waiting, sitting cross-legged by one of the wheels. Uh oh. Jack smiled politely and took care of the oxen. The kid -- Tennu, that was it -- stood up and started babbling, following Jack when he went to get a feed sack. Jack's complete lack of response was no deterrent.

Jack was hungry. While he debated whether to offer the kid some food, he watched Tennu, remembering Daniel's theory about him. He wasn't picking up any flirty vibes, or any "wanna date, mister?" vibes. Seemed more like Tennu just wanted an audience to talk to. Maybe he was lonely or something. Why he'd latched onto Jack, though, Jack wasn't entirely certain.

Hunger won out, and he shared half a loaf of bread and some dried, unidentifiable vegetable with Tennu, sitting on feed sacks next to the cart. Tennu had a leather bag with him, about the size of a kid's backpack, and pulled a round clay jug out of it. He took a drink and passed it to Jack. Jack sniffed it. Not water, not by a long shot. Jack took a tentative sip.

"Whoa," he said, passing it back to Tennu, who grinned in response. Jack found the water skin and took a long drink until his tongue and throat stopped burning.

It was getting dark, he was bored by the conversation he couldn't follow, and where was Daniel, dammit? Tennu said something and gestured at him, wanting him to turn around. Wary, Jack turned partway, and Tennu sat closer, rummaging in his bag. He pulled a cord out and draped it around Jack's neck. Jack lifted it to look at it. It wasn't a cord, it was a necklace of three silver lengths braided together. A little upscale from dog-tags.

Jack shook his head, but Tennu fastened it and babbled on, smiling and admiring it. He was running his fingers along the necklace, face so close to Jack's his hair brushed Jack's cheek, when Daniel showed up.

"He says it goes with your hair," Daniel murmured to him, setting two big jugs of water inside the cart. Then he gibbered a few words to Tennu, Tennu gibbered back, and now there were two sides to the conversation Jack couldn't follow. He sat between them, watching the sky's colors bleed into night blue. Small campfires around them sent eerie, flickering shadows across the cobblestones.

Tennu finally left, with a smile and little wave. Jack got inside the cart to put the feed sacks away, and felt the necklace heavy on his skin. He'd forgotten to take it off and give it back. He leaned against the pile of sacks and tapped the necklace with his fingertips, wondering what to do with it now.

Daniel climbed into the cart and lit a little oil lamp. He took off his shirt and makeshift holster, and poured some water on a cloth. He started washing, running the cloth along the back of his neck and down one shoulder. Jack watched his fingers glide the cloth across his chest, and the gleam of water trickling down his skin. Jack looked down at the necklace.

"Well," said Daniel, "Tennu doesn't think you're a customer."

"That's good to know," Jack said absently, running his thumb over the silver braid.

"He thinks you're a prostitute -- that we're both prostitutes."

Jack looked over at him. Daniel was squeezing water out of the rag onto his feet. Daniel wiggled his toes under the drips of water. "I think he's bonded with us as, um, colleagues." He glanced at Jack.

"Ah." Jack tapped his fingers on his thigh."Find out anything else?"

Daniel hung the wet cloth over the back of the cart. "We're days away from wherever we're going. This is the big pilgrimage to honor the god of weather, or luck, or something like that. I couldn't quite work it out. There'll be some parties along the way."

"Parties?"

Daniel tilted his head slightly. "Well, I thought 'ceremonies' at first, but in context it sounded more like parties. Feasts, maybe. The word was from the same root as--"

"Whatever," Jack cut in. "What about the UAV?"

Someone walked by, and Daniel remained silent until they'd passed. "Most people seem to think it was a demon bird, and a bad sign," Daniel said. "A punishment for killing the heathens. But the soldiers have told them the UAV was a flying machine from the heathens sent to scare them."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Not so far off."

Daniel stretched out, using his bundle of clothes as a pillow. He pulled the cloak over his shoulder as a blanket. Jack heard soft voices and laughing outside. He lay down and closed his eyes.

"So you're keeping it?" Daniel asked after a while.

Jack shifted to get more comfortable against the hard floor of the cart. "I forgot about it. I'll give it back tomorrow."

Daniel was quiet for a moment. "Well. It does match your hair," he said, sounding amused.

"Smart ass."

They dozed off while the camp around them was still awake with low conversations around small fires. When the cart shook, Daniel thought he was dreaming and ignored it. It shook again, and a rough, loud voice slurred something at them.

Daniel opened his eyes and saw a soldier standing at the back of the cart, shaking it insistently. Daniel's first thought was that they had been discovered, but then the soldier started to climb inside. He spoke, and Daniel understood the gist of it. Oh, damn.

Daniel looked at Jack, who was still curled up on the floor of the cart, but his eyes were open. Daniel noticed the tension in his shoulders; Jack was ready to spring into action. Daniel shook his head very slightly.

The soldier was still trying to get into the cart. He was drunk, slurring his words, getting louder. Daniel got up and knelt by the back of the cart. The soldier touched his arm, squeezed his bicep a couple of times, looked him over.

"How much?" the soldier asked.

Daniel shook his head, searching for the right words. "Sorry. Busy."

The soldier snorted. "Doesn't look it. Come with us."

_Us?_ Daniel glanced past the soldier and saw three more standing nearby, shadowy in the firelight, watching and laughing. The soldier shook his arm roughly. "Come on, pretty whore. I've got--" Daniel couldn't understand this part, although he had a couple of guesses. "--and I want to use it."

"Sorry. Can't." Daniel pulled his arm free.

He saw the anger flash in the soldier's eyes, smelled the alcohol on his hot breath. The man's fingers grabbed his wrist, gripped tight. "You'll come with us now. All four of us, whore, and you'll take what we give you and like it."

Daniel gritted his teeth and held still, twisting his wrist free. He was aware of Jack behind him in the cart, knew Jack was weighing the consequences of a fight. Daniel thought fast, trying to find some excuse, something he could say...

"God is watching," someone said laughingly. Tennu wandered up to the three soldiers, smiling, and stood in front of the tallest one. His eyes met Daniel's. Daniel wasn't sure what was going on, what Tennu was doing, but he felt the atmosphere change all the same. The tall soldier wrapped his arms around Tennu's waist and called out, "This one's prettier, and very sweet. Come on, leave him."

The insistent soldier glared at Daniel for a moment, then glanced back. Tennu's bracelets jingled as he lifted his shirt and ran his fingers over his stomach and into his pants. The soldiers around him laughed, and the tall one said, "See? Sweet and asking for it."

The soldier stared at Tennu for a moment, then muttered to Daniel, "Go back and change your rag, whore." He wandered over to join his friends. Tennu hooked his arm around the soldier's and murmured something to him, and all of them walked off.

Daniel let out a breath and rubbed his arm. He crawled back to his cloak and pillow.

"What happened?" asked Jack.

"He wanted a date," Daniel said, leaning back against the bundle of clothes.

"So I noticed. What changed his mind?"

"Tennu." Daniel paused. A cold chill trickled through his skin, raising goosebumps on his forearms. "Jack, there were four of them. He drew them away from us, went off with them."

Jack was silent for a moment. "He does this for a living. You said so yourself."

"Yes, but..." Daniel ran a hand over his hair. "He was doing us a favor. He looked at me. I think he knows we're not really, you know, uh--"

"Hookers?" Jack said. "What makes you think he was doing us a favor? Maybe he was just stealing our customers away."

Daniel rubbed his forehead. "I think he was helping us. He said something strange: 'God is watching.'"

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know." Daniel covered his face and pressed his fingertips to his temples. "I wish I did. I wish I understood any of this."

After a moment, he felt Jack's hand on his shoulder. Solid and warm and reassuring. "Daniel," Jack said quietly. "It'll be okay."

_For whom?_ Daniel wondered, but he didn't say anything. He nodded, and Jack's hand left his shoulder.

"Get some sleep," Jack said.

Daniel sat and watched the orange light of the fires grow fainter as the night wore on. He listened for conversations, for anything, but it was silent now. He heard Jack's breathing change subtly and knew Jack was asleep. Something comforting in that. Daniel settled against the floor of the cart and wrapped up in his cloak and waited for sleep.

He dozed, but never very deeply, and when dawn began to bring color to the world, he crept out of the cart to explore. It was still gloomy in the camp; the high walls kept the road in shadow. He smelled food cooking and followed the scent. A vendor had already set up for the day and was selling skewered strips of grilled meat. It smelled delicious. Daniel wished he had money.

As he turned away, a hand touched his forearm. He spun around, yanking his arm free, expecting another soldier, but it was Tennu. He smiled and offered Daniel a skewer of meat.

Daniel hesitated, but only for a moment. It was too tempting. He took the skewer, and he and Tennu wandered through the camp, heading back to their cart.

"Thank you," said Daniel, finishing off the meat. "For everything."

Tennu rolled his head from side to side, working out a kink in his neck. "You're not going to earn much." He gave Daniel a sidelong glance. "You're new, aren't you?"

Daniel thought quickly, searching for the right words, what to say. But Tennu went on, "You can learn from your friend."

That made no sense to Daniel whatsoever. He was probably mistranslating. He asked, "You said, 'God is watching.' Why?"

"You know how superstitious priests are." Tennu smiled. "God always gets their attention."

Daniel frowned. "Priests?" Tennu, still smiling, gave him a puzzled look, then looked past him. They'd reached the cart. Jack was feeding the oxen.

Tennu said to Jack, "Your friend won't make much money if he quarrels with the priests again."

Jack looked at Daniel, then at Tennu, and gave him a brief, false smile. This seemed enough for Tennu, who nodded once and left them. Daniel helped Jack with the oxen.

"He called the soldiers 'priests'," Daniel said.

"Priests who go to hookers, drink, carry swords, and kill people. Whoever heard of such a thing?" Jack commented drily.

After they finished with the oxen, they sat in the front of the cart and waited for the pilgrimage to start again. They shared the last loaf of tough, stale bread, and one skin of cool, fresh water.

The sun appeared over the eastern wall, bright and warm and casting long shadows. Jack tapped his fingers on his knees restlessly. "Where is everybody? Why haven't we moved yet?"

Daniel shook his head and shrugged, and that's when they heard it. Slow, rhythmic clapping coming from up ahead. They climbed down from the cart and followed it to the head of the camp.

The stargate was there, flat on a low, huge cart. Around it the pilgrims were standing in a wide circle, clapping. Jack noticed that all the women were standing together, forming half of the circle, and the men formed the other half. He and Daniel stood with the men, blending in.

Two of the soldiers -- the so-called priests -- climbed onto the cart and into the center of the stargate's ring. They started yammering on about something. Jack glanced at Daniel but Daniel just shook his head and looked mystified. The people kept clapping together in a steady rhythm. Eerie. Jack peered past the guys they were standing next to and looked for their little friend, Tennu. Spotted him farther along the circle, standing between a balding fat guy and a skinny soldier. Tennu was watching the soldiers on the cart and clapping.

The priests on the cart built up to a big ending, shouting and waving their arms around. They drew out their swords and held them over their heads. Jack sucked on a tooth. He'd left his gear back at the cart, hidden under his cloak, and now he was wishing he hadn't. He considered slipping away and getting it, but when he turned around, there were soldiers behind them. He glanced around and noticed soldiers standing at regular intervals behind the circle, like they were keeping guard. Damn. He should have brought his gear.

The priests pointed overhead with their swords. Jack looked up. The sun was directly overhead. It was noon already? When the hell were they going to stop this mumbo-jumbo and get going?

And then something odd and completely unexpected happened. The priests on the cart sheathed their swords and stripped down to nothing. And the people in the circle stopped clapping and started doing the same. Only the soldiers standing guard stayed dressed.

Jack looked over at Daniel, who was frowning and glancing at the guys around them. One of the guards walked by, patrolling, and Jack caught his suspicious look. He pulled off his shirt and stepped out of his sandals. Beside him, Daniel, shirtless, was slowly sliding his pants off.

Jack turned around. A short, stocky, naked man grinned at him -- he was missing several teeth -- and reached for him. He patted Jack's arm, mumbled something, and looked Jack over. Jack moved away until a hand on his back stopped him.

"Jack, it's me," Daniel's voice breathed into his ear. "Um, look around us."

The short guy with bad teeth shot Jack a pouty look and turned to someone else. Jack scanned the circle. Oh. Shit.

"'Parties,' huh?" he muttered to Daniel.

"There's no way I could have known," Daniel muttered back defensively.

Jack scanned again. Great. Just great. Not only was it an orgy, it was a same-sex orgy. The women, over on their side of the circle, were going at it, and the men, over here on this side... Yeah, they were definitely going at it, too. Everyone but the patrolling guards. And them.

He wondered if Daniel had any bright theories on the origin and significance of this kind of 'ceremony'. But right now, first priority -- they had to get out of here without getting caught.

Daniel stood there awkwardly, facing Jack and looking down at the road. Jack glanced back over his shoulder to check on the guard patrolling their patch of the circle.

"Uh, Jack," Daniel said quietly. "One of the priests is looking at you." He cocked his head to one side. Jack turned around and saw another guard coming their way. "I think it's your pants," Daniel added.

Jack looked around. He was the only one still partially dressed. "Oh." He untied the rope belt and let the pants fall to the ground. The guard who had been watching them turned back. But now another guard came from the opposite direction.

Jack let out a breath. The patrols were too well stationed and too observant. If they chanced it, Jack didn't like their odds of getting back to the cart before one of the guards caught them. He remembered those sharp, silver blades cutting down Freer and Atkins. No way to escape the other way -- an open space, and the cart with the stargate on it. Around them people were writhing and moaning and having sex, some standing, some lying down, some kneeling. They were short on options.

"Jack, what are we going to do?" There was a hint of anxiety in Daniel's voice.

Jack looked at him. Looked into his eyes, trying to be calm and controlled. Daniel took a breath and visibly relaxed.

"Daniel," Jack said quietly. "This a no-win situation. Just play along."

Daniel's brow furrowed. "What?"

Jack ignored the question, mind already racing as he checked out their neighbors. Okay. As long as the guards weren't going to look too closely... He patted Daniel's shoulder and leaned close.

"Pretend, okay? We'll just... get through this." He stood behind Daniel and placed his hands on Daniel's hips.

"Jack." Daniel's voice was low and tight. "What do you have in mind?"

"Daniel. It's pretend."

Of course, it was easy to say that, but now that he was actually back here, with Daniel's body -- Daniel's naked body -- touching his... Jack's palms got sweaty. He licked his lips, bit the lower one, made the mistake of looking down at Daniel's ass, just pressed against his groin, and shut his eyes quickly. Telling himself to think of glaciers, broken ribs, goa'ulds.

Then Daniel, who had to be a smart ass, cleared his throat and said, "I don't think we're convincing anyone. We're not even moving."

Jack opened his eyes and glared at the back of Daniel's head, then noticed movement with his peripheral vision and glanced over. One of guards was walking toward them, staring at them, hand on sword hilt. God, what did these people want? Proof?

Jack made his decision. He could hate himself later. He could deal with Daniel later. Right now, this was this, and he could deal with this. He could deal with this frighteningly easy. He pressed closer and slid one hand around, running it up and down Daniel's thigh. He slipped the other hand around Daniel's waist and caressed Daniel's stomach.

Daniel tensed. "Jack?"

Jack didn't say anything. He touched his lips to the back of Daniel's neck, kissed Daniel's shoulder. He swayed a little, subtly rubbing his body against Daniel's. He didn't know if the guard was still watching, and he didn't look. This was this, and Daniel's skin was smooth and warm, his body heavy and strong. His shoulder tasted salty. Jack ran his hand along Daniel's thigh, through the soft fuzz of hair. Slowly, back and forth, while his lips pressed against Daniel's shoulder.

Daniel relaxed a little, swayed with him. Still uncomfortable and awkward, which was understandable. Jack focused on his hand, rubbing Daniel's thigh. On the slow rhythm, the warmth, the contact of skin. And when he started to get aroused -- which was all too understandable, too, dammit -- he thought of goa'ulds, glaciers, broken ribs.

Finally, not too soon, it was over. The moaning and writhing and fucking and whatever stopped, and the people reformed the circle and resumed their steady clapping. The naked priests yammered some more, then everyone got dressed. The guards shepherded the pilgrims away from the stargate and back to their carts.

Under the high, hot, midday sun, the pilgrims packed up their camps and readied their carts. Two women carried skins of water and passed them out among the travellers. Jack and Daniel took one to share. They climbed onto the cart, and Daniel took the reins. The carts around them rolled forward, the oxen started moving.

What was he going to say, Daniel wondered.

They hadn't talked since the ceremony. Since-- Daniel stopped himself. No need to think of it again, not right now. What was he going to say?

He could explain the ceremony. What he'd gleaned from the priests' speeches, which wasn't a whole lot. The god they were honoring controlled the sun, and the so-called _dance of bodies_ was a religious rite. Why it was same-sex he hadn't been able to discover. It was a curious variant; something to ponder.

While he was trying not to think about Jack touching him.

While he was trying not to think about liking Jack touching him.

What was he going to say?

He didn't say anything, and they travelled in silence, following the endless road, surrounded by endless stone walls. It was hot and dry today. Slow and sluggish. Daniel was tired from his lack of sleep; had come down from his adrenaline high. His thoughts drifted.

Touch. The act of touching, of being touched. The sensation of touch. It had been too long. So, certainly, his reaction to Jack touching him was understandable when put into the proper perspective. Anyone touching him like that, of course he was going to enjoy it.

No. That wasn't exactly true. Daniel was too tired to lie to himself. Some percentage of the enjoyment was because it was Jack. Maybe it was because he could trust Jack. Maybe it was because Jack was good at it.

That was a troubling line of thought, though Daniel couldn't say why. The awareness that Jack was good at touching another person wasn't much of a shock, after all. Jack had his hands all over people all the time. Although... Okay, the troubling part was the nature of the touching, he supposed -- that Jack was good at that kind of touching.

And, yeah, Jack had been good at it. Was probably good at other kinds of touching...

"So, Daniel," Jack said, breaking into his thoughts.

What was he going to say?

Daniel cleared his throat. "Yes?"

"Any insights into what's going on here? I mean, is this a gay planet or something?"

Daniel watched the backs of the oxen as they trudged forward. "I've only been able to catch bits and pieces. It's a celebration for the sun god. I wonder if the circular shape of the stargate is connected in some way. Perhaps as a representation of the god." Daniel paused, considering this theory. "As for the same-sex, um, ceremonies--"

"Orgies," Jack corrected.

Daniel tilted his head from side to side. "Orgies. Anyway, my best guess is that there's some sort of prohibition against procreational sex during the pilgrimage. It would be uncommon -- usually sun god worship is associated with fertility. And it seems more obvious to simply ban sexual activity entirely, so there must be some significance to the homosexual interactions." He rubbed his chin, which was itchy from his growing beard. "Hmmm, and the presence of prostitutes... I don't quite see how they fit in."

Jack was silent for a moment. "In other words, you don't know."

Daniel scratched his jaw. "Not really, no."

They fell into silence again. The pilgrimage travelled longer today, not stopping until it was completely dark and the sky overhead was dotted with stars. They camped in another wall-town, with balconies and windows high above the road. Townspeople came down from the stairways and gave them flowers and gifts of food.

Jack went to try to climb up the walls while Daniel found water for the oxen. When Jack came back, unsuccessful, he helped Daniel feed the oxen and get a fire going in the portable stove. They shared a loaf of hard bread a townsman had given them. While they were eating, some soldiers walked by, joking about whores.

Jack finished his bread, stood up, stretched, and looked up at the firelit walls surrounding them. He spotted a few guards stationed on balconies, watching the camp and holding their bows ready. He glanced down and watched Daniel picking at the crust of his bread.

He resisted the urge to touch Daniel's hair. He said, "Good night," and climbed into the cart.

Stretched out under his cloak, head resting on a sack stuffed with his clothes, Jack failed to come to terms with himself. Too many conflicting emotions. But since Daniel apparently wasn't going to talk about what happened, maybe this wasn't a problem. If they kept ignoring it, maybe it would go away. _Yeah, right_.

He dozed, and when he woke up, Daniel wasn't in the cart. Jack looked out the back, but couldn't see anything in the dark road. He climbed out of the cart and adjusted his eyes to the gloom. The camp was quiet, though a few small fires sent flickering shafts of light over the cobblestones and torches were still burning on the walls overhead.

Jack rested his hands on his hips. This was not good. Jack reached into the cart, got his knife, and made a sweep of the camp, starting with the carts close by. Most people were asleep, though he heard some whispers and low laughter. He widened his search pattern and reached the outer edge of the camp.

The first thing he saw was Tennu: crouched by the wall and staring into the fire. Then he heard the voices and noticed the shadows. He came forward. Tennu shot him a sullen look he didn't have the time to figure out.

It took two soldiers to hold Daniel. One on each side, gripping his wrist. Daniel stood calmly and seemed unsurprised to see him. Jack flicked a glance at each soldier and raised an eyebrow. Daniel subtly shook his head.

Yeah, well. Jack tapped the flat of his knife against his fingers and kept watching the soldiers. That's when the third one showed up. Ah. No surprise there -- the son-of-a-bitch from last night. He stopped when he saw Jack and looked him over. Only briefly. Three of them, armed to the teeth. One knife wasn't much of a threat. He kept it ready, anyway.

The son-of-a-bitch said something to Daniel. Daniel gave a one-word reply, looking him straight in the eye. Bluffing or genuinely unconcerned, Jack wasn't sure. Then they had a little conversation, with the son-of-a-bitch doing most of the talking. A pause. Daniel hesitated, shifted his gaze to Jack for a split-second, then back. He said something, another one-word reply.

Whatever it was, it worked. The son-of-a-bitch stepped back, Tennu stood up, and the guards holding Daniel's wrists let him go. But Daniel didn't move, and the guards didn't leave. Tennu went over to Daniel and started undressing him, pulling his shirt off.

Jack bit his tongue to keep from saying anything, but no way was he letting whatever was happening happen. Tennu was going to have Daniel naked in about ten seconds, and Jack could guess why the guards were still hanging around. He stepped forward and grabbed Tennu's shoulder and made him stop.

The son-of-a-bitch said something. Daniel stared at Jack and shook his head again, this time worried. Tennu said something to the guards and they laughed. Daniel gave Tennu a puzzled look, asked him something. Tennu slid a sidelong glance at Jack before answering. Daniel licked his lips, glanced at Jack again and Jack took the opportunity to give him a _what the hell is going on?_ look.

Tennu stepped back, away from Daniel and out of Jack's grasp. He was talking to the soldiers, and Daniel said something. The son-of-a-bitch in charge muttered something. Daniel looked relieved. He motioned for Jack to follow and walked behind some carts. Finally. Jack glanced back. Tennu was tagging along.

Daniel stopped next to the wall, under a torch, and ran his hands over his face and through his hair. He crouched down and leaned against the wall. Jack knelt next to him. Tennu stood a little apart and turned to watch for the guards.

"Well?" said Jack.

"They got Tennu to bring me here," Daniel said.

"So I gathered. I can also guess why."

Daniel frowned and scratched his knees. "It's more complicated than that. I don't understand it completely, but it's about the ceremony. They, um, they noticed." Daniel drummed his fingertips on his knees.

"Noticed what?" Jack asked.

Daniel stared at him. "Noticed." He gestured vaguely. "That we didn't fuck. That I didn't, uh, come."

Jack's eyes widened. "They noticed that?" He shook his head. "God, these people are sick."

Daniel focused on his hands. "I don't know. It's part of their religion. Like I said, I don't understand it all. I'm guessing on every other word and praying they keep asking me yes-or-no questions."

"So now what? They let you go?"

If only. Daniel shook his head and looked at Jack. "No. They want me to, well, complete the rite. Tennu was supposed to get me ready for the priest. The one who wanted a date last night."

Jack's look was closed. He turned his head a little and glanced back at Tennu, then looked at Daniel. After a pause, he asked, "Why just you? Why not me?"

Daniel's face flushed with warmth, and he winced. "I told them you... completed the rite." He rubbed his knees to keep from twiddling his fingers again.

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Oh."

Daniel absently chewed on his lower lip. "Then Tennu told them I was new, or stupid, or something like that. Said I didn't know what to do. And that's when you showed up."

Jack turned his knife over in his hands, looking down at it. "How'd you manage the time-out?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. Something Tennu told them..." Daniel had no idea what Tennu had said, but it had something to do with Jack, so he could make a few guesses. He kept those to himself.

Jack looked at him again. "You have to go through with this?" In the shadowy torch light, it was impossible to read his expression. Daniel could only go by his voice, which was quiet and steady. Resigned, maybe.

Daniel nodded. "I think I do. I mean, if I don't, I don't know what the priests will do."

"Yeah."

They sat there in silence for a few seconds. Jack slipped his knife through his rope belt, patted Daniel's hand, and stood up. "Okay, then."

Daniel blinked at him, rising, wondering why Jack was suddenly so calm about it. When he started to head back, Jack laid a hand on his arm and said, "It doesn't matter how?"

Daniel frowned. "How? Oh, you mean... I don't know. Judging from the orgy this morning, I wouldn't think so, but..." he trailed off.

Tennu watched them curiously. Jack nodded, not looking at Daniel but holding his arm. "Okay. Let me."

"Let you? Let you what?"

"Daniel."

Daniel stared at his profile. "Jack. No, it's... No."

Jack looked at him then, but again the shadows were too deep, the light too low. "It's okay. I can do this."

"Jack. Please." Daniel pulled his arm free.

Jack caught it again, rubbed it once. "Daniel, let me. It's okay. I won't... I'm not going to hurt you, and I'm not going to let someone else hurt you. Okay? So, just... Let's just get through this."

Daniel started to speak and stopped. _Someone else hurt you._ It had been in his mind all night, ever since he'd naively followed Tennu back here and realized what was going on. It had been inevitable. And now, it wasn't. Jack wouldn't hurt him.

On the other hand, maybe the physical pain would be more acceptable than the guilt of having Jack do this for him. He wasn't sure. He didn't say anything. He was angry that he wasn't being given a choice, not by anyone, and he was so tired and confused that part of him just wanted to get it over with so he could go back to the cart and sleep.

The priests were waiting for them by the fire. The head priest had his hand on his sword hilt. It occurred to Daniel that despite Jack's intentions, maybe neither one of them was going to be given a choice. Tennu talked with the head priest. No one moved. No one said anything. They all stood, watching.

Jack stepped in front of him, very close. He whispered, "Close your eyes, or look at me. Don't look at them." Then he pulled his shirt off and rested his hands on Daniel's shoulders, rubbing them gently. Reassuring.

_He's trying to put me at ease,_ Daniel thought, and almost smiled at that. As if any of this was easy. He relaxed a little and closed his eyes. He unfastened his pants and slid them down, off his hips, then Jack's hands were there, taking over, pulling them down the rest of the way. Daniel opened his eyes to see Jack kneeling in front of him. He was still not thinking beyond the next second. He stepped out of his pants and stood there, and closed his eyes again.

Jack touched him, hand on each thigh. Daniel tensed, the knot of worry and guilt and bewilderment working its way up his spine. He shook his hands, hanging by his sides, and tried to relax.

Jack caressed his thighs. Firm, warm palms moving slowly up and down. Like he had done in the morning. The touch, and the remembrance of touch, brought warmth. Daniel breathed in deeply, exhaled slowly. Focused on the touch and pulled his mind away from the dark around the fire and the men standing there.

The touch was Jack. Warm, gentle, strong. Long fingers that splayed and curved to his hips and almost, but not quite, touched his ass. Then slid over his legs again, down to his knees, then up, slowly, following his inner thighs. So sensual. So unexpected, he started to think, but corrected himself. Not unexpected that Jack could be sensual.

The pattern repeated. The long, circular trail of Jack's hands following his thighs, up, down, up. Each circuit touching a little closer than before. It was starting to work. The warmth, and the teasing, and the strength of that touch. Daniel reached forward to take his cock, but Jack clasped his wrist. Just for a moment, then he let go. Then his hand was back on Daniel's thigh, another sweeping caress over his skin.

Daniel licked his lips and kept his hands by his sides. The slow flood of warmth was rising now, getting hotter, centering on his thighs, in his balls, in his cock. He should have been prepared -- but he wasn't -- for Jack's hand circling around his shaft, holding and caressing and lifting it, moving with the same steady strokes.

He bit down hard on his lower lip to keep the moan inside, but felt it tremble down his back, down his arms, down his legs. If Jack felt it, too, Daniel couldn't tell, because Jack's stroking never wavered. Just got stronger, wrapped tighter, up, down, and again, until the heat in his skin was heavy and filling his cock, making him throb.

Jack's stroking wavered. A tiny pause, then a circular pulling motion, and then his hand was gone. Daniel gasped his breath and squeezed his eyes shut to keep from opening them. Before he could think or worry or wonder, Jack's palm, hot and rough and slightly sweaty, cupped his balls. Daniel locked his teeth together, and the moan shivered straight down, made his cock twitch.

He felt Jack's breath. In the same instant that he realized why, Jack's mouth was on him, was around him, wet and hot. This time he did moan, and raise his hands, fumbled in the air until he felt Jack's shoulders.

And now he had no time to think, no time to be surprised, because Jack was sucking him hard. Stroking his balls and sliding his mouth up and down so fast. Strong, so hungry, pulling on him, pulling him in. Managing to rub and lick with his tongue and draw him deeper... Oh, god...

Daniel felt like he was falling. He was going to fall down if he let go of Jack's shoulders, if Jack's mouth let him go. He pushed in, felt a subtle vibration, was surrounded by the furious wet heat devouring him. And it was Jack. This was Jack doing this, he was in Jack.

It was an icy burn, up the backs of his legs, spiralling down his back, before it burst forth, and he was coming. He opened his eyes and looked down and saw nothing but Jack drinking him, swallowing. Felt the pull of his mouth, the pressure of his tongue, slippery with the thick slickness of his own come. The icy burn slammed into him again. He closed his eyes and dug his fingers into Jack's shoulders to keep from falling.

Jack pulled back. A sudden shock of cool air, then Jack's hand around him again, squeezing, jerking him hard. Drawing the last few bursts from him before he was spent. Drops of sweat rolled down his skin in ticklish, itchy trails. Jack held him. Gave his cock a few gentle, slow caresses before letting go.

The last touch. It was over.

Daniel did not want to open his eyes. He wanted the world around him to go away, and he would stay here, naked and alone with his secrets. He stood still. The night air chilled him, raised goosebumps. He shivered. He heard the men talking, didn't even try to understand. Heard Tennu's bracelets as he walked away. Waited for silence. Alone and naked.

Not alone. Jack's hand, warm and steady as always, rested on his shoulder, and Jack said quietly, "It's okay now. They're gone."

Daniel still couldn't open his eyes. He sensed movement around him, then Jack was pushing clothes into his hands, and saying that it was okay, and they had to leave. Jack sounded... normal. Daniel opened his eyes and quickly dressed before chancing a look at him. Jack looked the same as always, standing there and waiting for Daniel, impatient to go. His shirt was slung over one shoulder. The bruise on his forehead was almost black. He still wore the neck chain Tennu had given him, and it looked both odd and right on him.

They left the fire together and navigated through the camp in the dark. The night was cool and quiet, and smelled of smoke.

Jack could still taste Daniel, could still feel the weight and heat of Daniel in his mouth. He rubbed his tongue against the roof his mouth and swallowed against the lingering trace of haunting, arousing bitterness.

Beside him, Daniel was walking slowly. Dazed, maybe. It would have been so easy to reach out, put a hand on his shoulder, reassure him. _Of what?_ Jack thought. Reassure but not lie? Jack kept one hand on the handle of his knife and with the other drummed his fingers on his thigh.

Daniel stopped walking and turned toward him.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

They were in an open space beside the wall, under blazing torches. Above them a balcony jutted out over the road, flowers spilling over its ledge.

Jack brushed his thumb along the knife handle and looked around, at anything but Daniel.

He almost replied, 'I thought you knew,' but the lie died on his tongue. He glanced at Daniel and said nothing. What could he say?

Daniel touched the wall, tapped it restlessly. "Why?" he said quietly.

Jack shrugged. "I didn't know what to say." That was true enough.

"Did you think..." Daniel paused and stared at his hand, his fingers splayed over the stone. "Did you think I'd judge you?"

"No."

"Then why?" Daniel looked at him.

Jack ran his thumb along the hilt of the knife. It would be so easy to tell the truth, here, in the dark, on this alien world, with Daniel's taste still on his tongue. Jack stayed quiet.

Daniel dropped his hand from the wall, stared at Jack for a moment, then started walking. Jack fell into step behind him.

So Daniel saw it first, when the light around them changed, and the silence was broken by shouting, and the air became thick with acrid smoke. Daniel stopped abruptly and whispered, "Oh, my God." Jack brushed by him and stared.

Their cart was on fire, and two of the ones next to it. Someone had freed one of their oxen, but the other one... Around them people were running, driving their own carts away, bringing troughs of water. Overhead, soldiers poured water from buckets.

Jack and Daniel were mobilized into action, helping the chain of water bearers. They worked until the aches in their bodies tore at them, and the smoke clogged their lungs and streaked their faces. Jack started coughing and couldn't stop. His arm started bleeding again. When the blaze was contained, they sat with the others in silence and shared clean drinking water, away from the smoldering remnants.

There was nothing left but smoke, ashes, bones, and twisted melted shapes of metal and wood. All of their gear was gone.

A soldier came over and said something to them. Jack looked up at the wall and saw it was daylight. In the smoke and confusion, he hadn't been able to tell.

The soldier moved off. The people around them began to go back to their own carts. A few gave them some small sacks of food and skins of water, but Jack figured the other pilgrims didn't have much of either to spare. He smiled his thanks to them.

"What did the guard say?" he asked Daniel when they were alone.

Daniel scrubbed soot from his face with a clean cloth someone had given him. "He said something about the fire. I didn't get all of it but I guess it's some sort of bad omen."

Jack glanced across the road at the smoking rubble. "What are we supposed to do now? Hitch a lift?"

Daniel handed him the cloth, one side of which he'd saved for Jack. Jack wiped his face, coughed again.

"Walk," said Daniel. "That part I got. I guess once on the pilgrimage, there's no going back."

_Of course not,_ thought Jack grimly. _That would be too easy._ He wiped the blood and soot from the cut on his arm.

Daniel stretched out on the road and covered his eyes with one forearm. "I wonder how it started."

Jack rubbed the aches from his knees and ankles. "One of the torches fell from the wall. I noticed it when the smoke cleared up. Empty wall bracket. I think it hit the cart next to ours."

Daniel nodded without moving his arm or saying anything. Jack suspected he was going to pass out from exhaustion. He sat quietly and let him. Too much had gone on tonight. It was too much to think about, and it was simpler to sleep.

Jack dozed off and they got a couple of hours to rest while the pilgrims packed up around them. When it was time to go, someone shook Jack's shoulder to wake him and jabbered something. Jack had to shake Daniel awake and pat his face to get him coherent. Someone gave them a sack and an old, worn cloak. Jack packed the gifts of food in the sack and let Daniel have the cloak. When the pilgrimage started moving, they fell into place with the rest of the pilgrims on foot. Behind them were soldiers bringing up the rear. It was a solemn, weary procession.

Daniel could think again. Past the fire, past everything but Jack. It had been a guess, cobbled together from circumstantial evidence and a few things Tennu had said which had made no sense. It had been a guess Daniel became convinced of, and Jack hadn't denied it. And as much as Daniel wanted to be angry at Jack for not telling him, in the end, he was angry at himself.

_How could I not know?_ This was Jack here. His best friend. The guy he knew better than anyone. Well, no, as it happened, he didn't. He'd missed seeing something really big and important. _How could I not know?_

He was a little hurt that Jack had never told him, but he forgave that easily enough. Jack kept things to himself, and something like this... He could understand why Jack hadn't confided in him. He could understand, could forgive, but it still hurt a little.

And underneath the hurt, there was an uneasiness Daniel was almost afraid to recognize. Memories of touch, of drawing warmth and reassurance from Jack. What did it mean, now, to acknowledge that he liked Jack's touch?

Where did they go from here? he wondered, and caught the irony as they walked on the endless road, between the endless walls, under a bright, hot sun. Would there ever be any destination to this journey?

When they stopped for the night, long hours later, they both collapsed against a wall and fell asleep, aching and hungry and exhausted. The smell of roasting meat woke them up. Tennu was crouched by a small, portable stove, holding two sticks of meat over the fire. He'd also brought them a skin of fresh water, and a clay jug of wine.

Tennu had to have figured out who they really were. Why was he still helping them? Daniel watched Tennu hand Jack another skewer of meat, and something clicked. The necklace, a gift. He looked at Jack, lit by the fire. The silver did match his hair. Daniel smiled a little. Tennu had good taste.

Oh, it was too strange to be thinking like this. Thinking about _Jack_ like this. Daniel finished eating and reached for the clay jug. Not wine, something stronger than wine that hit him behind the eyes and made his sinuses burn. He stoppered it and set it down, coughing hoarsely.

Tennu laughed and tossed him the water skin. He looked at Jack and started talking, too quickly for Daniel to follow it all. He touched Jack's chin, touched the beard growing in, and grimaced.

"I think he wants you to shave," Daniel said. He scratched his own chin.

Jack rubbed his jaw. "Too bad."

Tennu had a satchel with him, and searched through it, chattering at them. aniel looked at Jack, leaning against the wall with his legs outstretched, crossed at the ankles, his knife beside him, within easy reach. His clothes stained with soot and ragged, his pants held up with a piece of rope. Dried blood smeared down one arm. Black bruise on his forehead. Battered but not beaten. The same old Jack.

_I should have known,_ Daniel thought.

Daniel rubbed his face and shook his head. "I can't believe this is happening."

Jack glanced over at him and half-smiled at him. "What? That we're trapped on a planet where they'll behead us if they find out who we are? Or that they think we're prostitutes? Or that a torch fell on the cart that had all our stuff in it and burned it down to nothing? Or that I'm a fag?"

Daniel gazed at him steadily. "Somehow, I don't believe that's how you think of yourself. And of everything that's happened, that's the least of my worries."

Jack stared at him for a moment, then looked away, toward the fire. He raised an eyebrow, didn't say anything.

Tennu had grown quiet, watching them. He set down a tiny clay jar and a small cloth bag between them. He mumbled something, stood up, and left them, taking his satchel and the jug of alcohol with him. More food smells drifted through the camp, and soldiers wandered between carts and people, patrolling the evening.

Daniel moved closer, lifted the cloth bag and examined it. "It smells like potpourri." He set it down, lifted the jar and opened it. He dipped a fingertip inside, pulled it out and rubbed the glistening smear. His brow furrowed.

Jack stared at the road, in the direction Tennu had gone. Great that they had a local helping them and stuff, but did he have to help so goddamned much?

When he looked at Daniel, Daniel was looking at him. Daniel closed the jar and put it next to the cloth bag, which he poked at. "I'm sure he means well."

"Yeah." Jack watched Daniel fiddling with the cloth bag, pinching it, turning it over. He felt that pull again, to touch Daniel's hair, tell him everything, let the words die on this alien planet, away from reality.

"Daniel..."

He said it too softly, or Daniel ignored him, because Daniel looked at him, serious and intense, and said, "I should have known. I mean, I know you. How could I have not known?"

Hell.

Jack shrugged a little. "It's not much of a secret if everybody knows."

Daniel stared at him. "Secret," he repeated.

Jack raised an eyebrow. Daniel looked away, back at the cloth bag. He lifted it and passed it from hand to hand. "Yes. Of course. It would have to be, wouldn't it?" He abruptly dropped the bag and looked up. "There's more to it than that, though, isn't there?" He had that look -- that faint smile, eyes narrowed. On the trail of a discovery. A question that wasn't a question, because his mind had already raced there and found an answer.

The simplest thing would be to say yes and leave it at that. Leave it at that for however long Daniel let him leave it at that. Jack was all for doing the simplest thing, but he felt that pull, stronger than ever.

He looked down at his hands and said, "I was going to tell you, but it became complicated."

Daniel was silent for a moment. "Complicated in a temporary, I'll-tell-Daniel-as-soon-as-it-stops-being-complicated kind of way?" he asked at last.

Jack looked at him. "It never stopped being complicated," he said quietly.

Daniel raised his eyebrows. "Oh." He picked up the cloth bag again and fiddled with it, and came over to sit next to Jack, leaning against the wall. He let the bag drop from one hand into the other. Jack watched it fall from palm to palm.

Daniel said, "I liked it." He paused. "I mean, you know... I liked it."

Jack wasn't sure what to say. _That's nice? Of course you did? Thank you?_ He frowned a little. "That's understandable."

"No. I liked it for more than just the physical part." Daniel sniffed the cloth bag again.

"You know, I think there're drugs in there," Jack said, wanting to change the subject because this was too much to take in. This was life-altering stuff.

Daniel turned the bag around in his fingers. "Really?"

"Yeah. Tennu used it on me when I had the headache from hell."

Daniel set the bag down and leaned back, pressing his head against the wall. He closed his eyes and smiled softly. "I think he likes you."

Jack poked the bag. "He doesn't know me. I can't even speak his language."

Daniel shrugged. After a moment he said, "I guess I'm wondering about a lot of things that aren't really any of my business."

Jack smiled a little. Daniel's way of saying he was going to ask anyway. Jack tapped the bag and headed him off. "There's not a lot to know. I'm not leading some wild double life you don't know about. I'm the same guy."

Daniel opened his eyes and looked at him. "But... I know, it's none of my business."

_But you want to know anyway,_ Jack thought. He felt edgy. He didn't want to be having this conversation. He wanted things to go back to the way they were before. Well, okay, maybe not, but this was no day at the beach, either. Life had altered, and everything was changing too fast.

"If you think I'm going to give you a list of every person I've slept with, you should know me better than that," he said.

Daniel looked away and stared off into the distance. They fell into silence, watching the camp around them settle in for the night. Fewer fires burning, fewer voices speaking.

Daniel was numb from feeling too much. Or maybe it was the drugs inside that bag. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to want.

It occurred to him that there were certain things he'd taken for granted without meaning to. He'd learned early on that you never took people for granted, not the people you cared about, not the people you loved, because they could leave you so quickly. They could be gone just like that.

"I don't know what to do," he said helplessly. "I don't think I can pretend none of this ever happened, and truthfully, I don't want to. But what does that mean? I know I care for you, I know I don't want to live without you, but suddenly there's this other possibility I never thought about until yesterday. And the easiest thing to do would be to forget it exists, because you can't miss what you don't know exists, but the scary thing is, I don't want to forget. I'm not even sure why. I just know I liked it, and I liked it because it was you. So what does that mean? Where do we go from here? I don't know what the answer is. All I know is that I'm going to think about you touching me, and I'm going to remember."

It had to be the drugs. He hadn't said that much to Jack since... Well, in fact, he wasn't sure he'd ever said that much to Jack, about anything.

Daniel took a deep breath and closed his eyes and wondered if he would feel any better if he went to sleep. And then Jack touched him. Stroked his hair and pulled him closer so Daniel could lean against him, and slid an arm around him.

It was good, and Daniel felt better. He relaxed and waited for Jack to say something, and was half-asleep in the silence when Jack said, "You were the complication."

"Oh."

They should talk about this. Daniel tried to move away, but Jack held him, and the drugs or the exhaustion or the unexpected lightness he felt surrounded him. Made him drowsy and rocked him into sleep, or maybe it was Jack doing that, he wasn't sure.

When he woke up, it was still dark in the camp, but the sky overhead was a pale blue. The air was cool.

He was lying on Jack, or at least part of him was, and Jack's arms were folded around him. Daniel rubbed his cheek on Jack's shoulder.

"You're not asleep," he said.

Jack moved one hand, let it rest on the back of Daniel's neck and rubbed gently. "I guess we'll have to move on soon," Jack said.

"I guess so."

He could feel Jack's warmth beneath him. The strength and the tenderness of his touch. Jack's fingertips gliding over the back of his neck.

Daniel had his arm draped across Jack's stomach. He touched his palm to Jack's side and kept it there. _I want to know how to touch you,_ he thought. _I want this._

Jack stirred and tensed. Daniel looked over and saw a soldier standing over them. The priest who had wanted to make Daniel complete the rite.

"Whores," he muttered darkly, frowning at them. "It's nearly time for the sun."

He fingered his sword hilt and walked on.

"What is with that guy?" Jack asked.

"I wish I knew." Daniel sighed and pressed his cheek against Jack's shoulder again. If only they could get away, if only they weren't here, then he could understand it all -- everything he was feeling, everything that had happened. But he couldn't do it here. Nothing made sense here.

The soldiers marched through the camp as sunlight reached over the eastern wall. They shouted at the pilgrims to get them to line up. They herded the ones on foot to the front of the procession, right behind the giant flatbed cart carrying the stargate.

This was a change, and it kept Jack and Daniel on alert during the long day's progress. They stopped only once, at midday, for rest and a meal.

They walked well into evening. Torches set into the walls lit the way. Jack looked up and noticed more wall buildings. Balconies and ledges and windows. But there was something different about the ones here. He kept glancing up until he pegged it: no people. No flowers.

The light from the torches grew stronger, casting a reddish glow across the road. Someone barked a command and the cart stopped. Jack slowed his steps, watching the soldiers at the head of the line break formation and direct others. And then, out of the darkness ahead emerged something so simple he hadn't expected it: a wall. They had reached the end of the road.

The soldiers burst into action. A few stayed behind to watch the pilgrims, who were so exhausted by the long march they fell to the road and stretched out. It looked like a bloodless massacre.

Jack found a free patch of wall to lean against and sat up so he could watch the soldiers. Daniel, after a moment's hesitation, edged over to him until they were touching. He shifted so he could lean against Jack. Jack slid an arm around him, grateful for the contact. There was so much about this place he didn't understand and didn't like. The one thing he could live with was this. Being able to hold Daniel like this.

"Look," Daniel said, and pointed up at the wall opposite. Jack looked up at the overhangs and windows high above until he saw what Daniel meant. There were people up there. Lots of them, lined up along the edge, watching.

He turned his attention back to the soldiers, who were now pulling the stargate off the cart. They had tied thick ropes to it and were hauling it forward inch by inch. They were moving it onto something. Jack couldn't see what until the cart drew back.

Four smooth, black pedestals stood on the road in front of the back wall. The soldiers were able to drag the gate from the cart onto these pedestals. But the thing which held Jack's attention was the gaping hole in the road between the pedestals. It centered neatly right under the stargate's inner circle. And this hole was glowing -- red and flickering until one of the flickers reached up and Jack saw it was a flame. A flame but not fire. It was too thick and fluid to be fire.

He looked up again. People along every wall. No rejoicing or music this time. And then they started to clap. A familiar, steady rhythm. Eerie. Jack glanced around. None of the pilgrims were clapping.

The soldiers dispersed and took up spots among the pilgrims. Jack recognized the pattern: crowd control. The pilgrims in carts were made to come out onto the road. The ones sitting down were made to stand. He and Daniel stood together near the front. Jack held his knife by his side.

There was a large balcony set into the end wall, above where the stargate rested on the four pedestals. A man, dressed like the other soldiers, stepped onto it, torches blazing behind him, and the people on the wall stopped clapping. He started speaking. His voice carried through the night, into the crowd.

"Oh," Daniel said. Jack glanced at him. "He just said something about sacrifices," Daniel explained.

Jack looked at the open, fiery pit under the stargate. "Of course he did," he muttered.

While the priest (or whatever) was talking, the pedestals under the gate started shaking. The flames in the pit changed color: from red to orange to yellow to white. Now the area where they stood was lit all in white, with stark, sharp shadows. The pedestals kept shaking. The road vibrated under their feet.

The inner circle of the stargate spun.

At first Jack thought it was just a trick of the light. He stared at the gate. No, sure enough, there it was. The inner circle spinning around and around.

Then it stopped. A chevron lit up.

Jack looked at Daniel, who shook his head a little and frowned. "There's no DHD. There's no one turning it by hand. I don't see how..." Daniel fell silent as the gate spun to life again, spinning until another chevron lit up.

"Doesn't matter how," Jack said. "They're dialing it." He watched the circle spin, stop, and a third chevron engage.

The pedestals stopped shaking when the sixth chevron lit up. The white glow from the pit had become a focused, wide beam, spilling up from the ground and through the gate's inner circle.

Daniel drew a sharp breath. Jack glanced at him.

"Maybe they don't know," Daniel said. "They let it dial to six, then toss their sacrifices into the pit."

The gate started spinning again. Jack said, "Or maybe they do know, and are dialing up one of the rings of hell."

He felt something brush by his side and turned to find Tennu standing next to him. Tennu was staring fixedly at the stargate. He slipped his hand around Jack's wrist. Jack glanced past him and saw that everyone was joining hands this way. He took Daniel's hand and locked their fingers together.

The seventh chevron locked. The kawoosh of the event horizon rose up higher than the wall, fell into place. Tennu's fingers tightened around Jack's wrist.

The guy on the balcony was still giving his speech. Daniel stared at the stargate, listening. "They think it's water," he said. "Water over fire. I think this is some kind of purification ritual."

There were soldiers behind them, prodding them to move forward. Jack looked back and saw lines and lines of pilgrims, all with their hands linked together. Their line was first, moving toward the gate.

"You know, if our cart hadn't burnt down, we wouldn't be in the front row," he said.

"If our cart hadn't burnt down, we'd still have a GDO."

Jack cocked an eyebrow. "Knock everyone out and dial manually? Without knowing how the hell the stargate is drawing power in the first place?"

Daniel shrugged a little. "It was a thought."

Their line was led to the pedestals. The man on the balcony stopped talking. Four soldiers carrying long spears stepped forward. There were small holes in some of the stones in the road. The soldiers slid their spears into the holes, and a line of stones -- a ramp -- rose up from the road until it was level with the stargate. A soldier grabbed the first pilgrim in line, an older woman, and pulled her to stand in front of the slope. She looked at it and shivered.

Daniel squeezed Jack's hand and got a reassuring squeeze back. Everyone was staring at the woman, watching her fear. What were they waiting for, Daniel wondered. This was a sacrifice -- was she supposed to willingly walk up there and fling herself into the unknown?

Then the man on the balcony said the word Daniel believed meant purification. The woman cowered. After a pause, the man on the balcony said, "Service." The woman nodded meekly. The soldier took her by the arm and led her away from the gate, back toward the wall.

A choice. Purification or service. More like servitude, Daniel guessed, watching the next man in line being pulled forward.

One by one they went. The soldier asked them their choice, while the priest above watched. Most chose slavery. Two -- a woman and a man -- chose purification. The woman sprinted up the stone wedge and jumped, hurtling herself over the event horizon. She landed precariously on the ring of the stargate, teetered for a moment while everyone watching held their breath, then balanced herself and jumped down, onto the road. She walked away, back into the crowd, going the way they had come. So there was a third choice.

The man right after her, perhaps heartened by her success, attempted the same thing. He fell short and went flying into the wormhole, his scream cut short.

They were getting closer to the front of the line. Jack drummed his fingers over Daniel's knuckles and said, "I guess we know where we're going."

Daniel cast him a look. "Ring of hell?"

Jack smirked, almost cheerful. "We've been there before. Maybe they saved our room for us."

Daniel rubbed his thumb over Jack's hand. "This is probably a different hell."

"Maybe it's part of the same chain," Jack said, "and we'll get frequent traveller points."

Daniel watched the man in front of him walk away with the soldier. "Bonus points on weekends."

"Is it a weekend?" Jack asked as the soldier came back.

Daniel let go of Jack's hand. A simple act. Harder and more painful than he had ever imagined. He didn't look back until the soldier had him at the foot of the stone slope. Then he looked across at Jack and smiled a little at him, not listening as the soldier asked him his choice. Jack didn't smile back, but stood there and watched him, and something about that, just the way he stood there, gave Daniel a feeling of peace.

He turned away and faced the gate and slowly walked up the ramp, stood on the ring of the stargate, and took one step forward, into the wormhole.

There were a few murmurs in the crowd. Tennu squeezed Jack's wrist so hard, Jack glanced back at him, and saw Tennu give him a frightened, apologetic look. Jack didn't know how to tell him it was okay. Even if it wasn't okay, he wished he could tell the kid something.

The soldier came for him and took Jack's arm. He spotted Jack's knife and grabbed it from him, saying something that sounded nasty. As Jack walked over to the wedge in the road, he remembered the necklace. When the soldier released him, Jack unclasped it and tossed it over to Tennu. It landed near his feet, and the kid bent down to pick it up. The soldier said something, but Jack had already started walking, up the ramp, following Daniel. He stood on the stargate, dipped the toe of his sandal into the event horizon, and hopped in.

At last. They were off that damned planet.

Onto another damned planet.

Red. It was red. Everywhere. The sky, the ground, the choking, dusty air. Jack coughed violently, squinted, and looked for Daniel. Found him sitting by the DHD. Oh God, yes, there was a DHD. He rushed for it, through a fierce, hot wind that blew rough red sand and dirt at him. He sat down next to Daniel. Daniel reached out and took his hand, wove their fingers together. Jack squeezed his hand.

"The man was here when I came through," Daniel said. "The one who fell. But he ran off before I could explain the DHD." Daniel's voice sounded sleepy, slurred. "There's something wrong here. I don't think he could hear me, or understand me..." Daniel shook his head and closed his eyes.

Yeah. Jack was starting to feel it, too. Something very wrong here. Making him dizzy.

He pulled on Daniel's hand and jerked him forward. Daniel opened his eyes and looked around, blinking.

"It's okay. We'll make it," Jack said. "We have a DHD. We wait it out until we can get through. Thirty-eight minutes, right? Piece of cake."

Daniel rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "Actually, I was thinking about that. We have no idea what kind of power source the gate is drawing from. It's possible they can keep a wormhole stable longer than that. I think they'd almost have to, to get so many people through the purification rite like that... Oh. You lost your necklace."

Jack frowned a little and shook Daniel's hand again, to make sure he wasn't zonking out again. "I gave it back to Tennu. As thanks for helping us."

Daniel furrowed his brow and stared at the stargate. "He didn't follow us."

"He was scared."

"They're slaves, Jack. That's what the purification ritual is. Jump over and you're free. Fall and you're here. Or opt out and become a slave."

Jack watched the event horizon. "What a nice, friendly place that was."

Daniel was silent for a moment. "The orgies were nice," he murmured.

Jack stared at him. Daniel smiled mildly and blinked. Ah ha. Confirmation that Daniel damn well knew he was batting his eyelashes when he blinked like that.

Maybe it was the wooziness he was fighting, or the whole horrific strangeness of it all. Jack said, "I can do better."

Daniel squeezed his hand. "I'm sure." He paused, shook his head as if shaking off another dizzy spell, and said, "I'm looking forward to finding out how much better."

Jack looked at the stargate. No one else was coming through? All of them slaves... What the hell had Daniel just said?

"Daniel."

Daniel's hand relaxed in his. Jack squeezed it hard and yanked him forward. Daniel opened his eyes wide.

"Not good," Daniel said.

The dizziness was getting worse. Putting pressure in Jack's skull, bearing down on him. He winced and dug his fingers into Daniel's hand.

"Tell me what you just meant," he said.

"What?"

"Talk. Let's stay focused here. Just a few more minutes, gotta be. We'll make it." The pressure receded a little. Jack looked down at their hands, locked together, and wiggled his fingers. "Tell me what you meant about looking forward to finding out."

"This isn't really the time or the place for this, is it?"

"You started it," Jack pointed out.

"No, I... Oh. I guess I did." Daniel slumped against him and rubbed the back of his head against Jack's shoulder. "I meant... What we talked about before. Last night. I want this. It scares the hell out of me, but I want it."

This was not the time, not the place, no. Jack thought his brain would explode. From what Daniel was saying, or this planet, or both. All he could manage was, "Okay."

"Look." Daniel pointed at the stargate.

Another person came through, tumbling down the stargate's pedestal. Daniel stood up, pulling Jack up with him, and they let go. They jogged up to the new arrival.

It was a young woman. Jack touched her arm, and she rolled onto her back and opened her eyes. She looked terrified, and whispered something, like she was saying a prayer. Then she burst into tears.

They got her to her feet and led her away from the gate, to the DHD. She kept crying. Hysterical, and this place wouldn't help.

"How much longer?" Jack said. "It's got to cut off soon."

Daniel spread his palms over the face of the DHD. He gritted his teeth against the pain and the nausea and the drunken feeling.

"You know where to dial?" Jack asked, raising his voice over the bawling of the woman.

"P9Q-167. SG-12 is there." Daniel stroked the raised patterns of the symbols, mapping out the dialing sequence.

"How do you remember all this stuff? Do you memorize everyone's briefing reports or what?"

Daniel saw Jack grip the side of the DHD until his knuckles turned white. He was fighting it off, too.

"It's good to have information like that handy," Daniel said. He looked at the landscape around them. "Case in point."

Jack clutched the DHD and bent and squirmed and hit his forehead against it, muttering a mantra: "Turn it off, turn it off, turn it off."

Daniel cupped the center orb in his palms. A wave hit him and he shut his eyes, but thank God the woman was still crying. It kept him focused. That, and Jack's mantra. He opened his eyes.

The gate had shut off.

He didn't spare a second to say anything. He just dialed. Jack didn't spare a second to ask anything. He took the woman by the hand and patted it to comfort her. She screamed at the kawoosh. Daniel took her other hand, and they walked her up the pedestal.

"About damn time," Jack said as they stepped into the wormhole.

\-----

She never stopped crying. Not on P9Q-167. Not when General Hammond, Sam, and Teal'c greeted them with concerned relief. Not when Doctor Fraiser's team led her away. Daniel tried to tell her it would be all right, but didn't think it was sinking in. The woman thought she was in hell.

Time disappeared after that. He and Jack cleaned up and reported to the infirmary. Janet kept Jack for a slew of tests. Daniel went to the mess and ate two lunches and was still hungry after that, but he decided not to overdo it.

Hammond called them in for a quick debriefing. No SG personnel left to rescue, hostile conditions. The energy source that powered the gate, and the mystery of how it dialed out without a DHD, were of interest, but the risks were too great. Sam reported that once it got close enough, the UAV had been pulled into the open pit and its transmission cut off. Geo-magnetic forces, she speculated. From the wistful gleam in her eye when she heard about the stargate dialing, Daniel could tell she wished there were a way to sneak back there and do some tests.

The bulk of the debriefing would be in their reports, however. There was a new priority: P5S-381 had panned out as a new homeworld for the Enkarans. Helping them relocate was SG-1's current assignment. No time for rest, no time for readjustment. Back in action, back in the field, back to normal. Whatever that was.

It wasn't until after P3R-118 that Jack had time to think about things. The things which had seemed so life-altering at the time, except now here he was, back in his life, and it hadn't altered.

Or maybe it had. Or maybe he had. Because he called Daniel, asked, "Wanna go out for a drink?" and Daniel said yes. This was okay, Jack decided. This was safe, and neutral.

The only quiet bar he knew was a bit run down. It had a slight country &amp; western tang to it, but the torn and peeling decor was too bland to be anything specific. Too late -- after Daniel walked in and joined him at a table -- Jack remembered that they didn't carry any of the imported beers Daniel liked. Daniel took this in stride and ordered a vodka.

They didn't talk for the first round. Nothing. Jack listened to the TV on over the bar -- Court TV -- and the random comments the bartender made to the only other customer. Daniel nursed his vodka and played with his glass, and looked unusually stuffy in his tweed jacket.

Second round, Daniel stared at his glass and said, "I still remember."

"So do I."

Daniel looked at him, and it was unnerving how sharp his gaze could be. Like he could cut right into you, when all he was trying to do was understand you.

"I don't know what you want," Daniel said softly. "I've been thinking about it, about everything, and I still don't know."

Jack looked past him, at the front door. There was a faded poster on it advertising Camels. One corner had come free and was curling up.

"I'm used to not having what I want," he said at last. "Sometimes I think about it, sometimes I don't." He glanced at Daniel. "What about you?"

Daniel turned his glass between his fingers. He half-smiled. "Oh, I know what I want, and it scares me so much I think it would be easier to run away from it." He looked up. Sharp gaze. "I think that's how you feel."

Goddamn Daniel Jackson and these love-hate moments. Jack hated that Daniel told him how he felt. Loved Daniel for his intricate, stubborn little mind that nailed it, right on the money.

"I hate when you do that," Jack said, taking a drink of beer.

"I know." Daniel looked down at the table and smiled and toyed with his glass. His smile faded, and after a long silence he said, "I don't want to run away and regret it, and I don't want to think about it and be scared. Sometimes -- like right now -- I just want to jump into it. Just... fall in."

Jack was watching Daniel's fingers, which kept moving restlessly, spreading out as if to touch, retreating back to the glass. He kept his own fingers locked to his beer bottle and plastered to the table top, to stop himself from reaching out and stilling Daniel's. _Holding hands._ It was crazy how much he missed that simple, stupid little thing: holding hands.

"Fall in," Jack repeated.

Daniel gazed at him. Not sharp this time, but burning. A look he'd never seen, never expected to see.

"Yes," Daniel said. "I want to. Right now."

There it was, another life-altering moment. Right here in this dingy little bar, while Court TV played in the background. Jack flexed his hands. His palms were sweating.

"I know a place," he found himself saying. "It's a long drive."

"I have time," Daniel said, still gazing at him. Burning. "I'll follow your truck." He set aside his nearly untouched second vodka.

Jack felt a buzz, a hum, a current inside him, as he left the bar and got into his truck. It stayed with him through the drive, let him not think about anything but traffic and navigation and Daniel's headlights in his rearview mirror.

It wasn't a bad place, just a bit run down, like the bar. A roadside motel, one of the old-fashioned kind. A faint mildewy smell. Mismatched furniture. The old guy who ran it took cash and minded his own business. Out of disinterested boredom, Jack suspected, more than anything else. Eerily, the old guy was watching Court TV, too, on his six-inch set behind the front desk.

When he walked out of the office with the key, he noticed Daniel's car at the gas station across the road. He drove the truck around to the room. Inside, he did his usual old habit of checking out every drawer. Flicked through the TV. Daniel's headlights beamed through the window briefly. Jack opened the door.

"We didn't plan this out very well," Daniel said as he came in, carrying a paper bag. "I'm starving." He unpacked the bag on the desk: a random assortment of snacks and soft drinks from the gas station convenience store.

Jack poked through the selections. "Pretzels for dinner? Works for me." He glanced at Daniel. "You're supposed to be so in lust with me that you don't crave anything else, like mere food."

Daniel lifted an eyebrow and tossed a Snickers bar at him. "Really."

Daniel munched on pretzels, slid the chain on the door locked, and started undressing. He was pacing, Jack realized, using the open pretzel bag as his focal point. Jack took off his jacket and shirt. After a moment's hesitation, stripped down to his underwear. He rifled through the junk food again and found two small boxes. Travel toothbrushes and toothpaste. Daniel was so smart.

Jack washed up in the bathroom, brushed his teeth. Gave Daniel some space. When he came out, Daniel was in his shirttails, shirt hanging open over bare chest and his undershorts. Part of Jack felt like grabbing him and pulling him into a kiss, and part felt like standing still and looking, memorizing him like this. Daniel turned away, pulled a pretzel out of the bag, held it and turned it around in his fingers before setting it down. Jack went over to him and rested his hand on the back of Daniel's neck.

"You okay?"

Daniel nodded.

"You know, we don't have to do this," Jack said slowly, pulling every word out like a thorn. _I'm used to not having what I want._ "We can just sit around and eat pretzels and watch TV. Or we can go home." He patted Daniel's back and let his hand drop.

Daniel turned to him, shaking his head. "It's not this. I'm not afraid of this. It's just, I want you so much it's a little... I don't know. Scary, I guess, but that's not the right word. I can't find the right word, and I'm not used to that."

Christ. How did you respond to that? _You just fall in,_ Jack decided. He rested one hand on Daniel's hip, over his shirt, and the with the other touched Daniel's cheek, his jaw. Paused before kissing, mouth dry. Daniel licked his lips. Christ. Jack kissed him, very softly. And felt the current race and spark inside, down his back, down to his toes.

Another kiss, just as soft, longer. Then Daniel kissed him back, soft but searching. He touched Jack's shoulders, his back. He broke from the kiss, took a small, sighing breath, and said, "I'll be right back." He rubbed Jack's shoulder before letting go.

Jack said, "Yeah."

Daniel went into the bathroom and let the bright glare of the light on stark white tiles calm him down. He took a piss, washed his hands, and pressed his wet hands to his face and closed his eyes. Took a deep breath. How could you want something so badly you thought it would kill you?

He pulled his hands away and opened his eyes. Saw that Jack had brought both travel toothbrushes to the sink. He brushed his teeth, wiped his face with water again, breathing deeply, calming. He took off his glasses, shirt and underwear and, naked, went back into the room.

Jack was in the bed, still in his underwear. He had two pretzel sticks and was tapping them together. He dropped them onto the bedstand when he saw Daniel. Daniel stood there, and Jack looked at him. Looked at all of him, looked him over, slowly. The fact that Jack wanted to do that sent a pulse of warmth through Daniel's skin.

Daniel got into bed. The mattress was super-hard. Felt like a board wrapped in cheap linen. Jack never took his eyes off of him. Daniel gazed back at him, and neither of them moved or spoke for long minutes. This was learning, Daniel thought. Finding out something and fitting it into the patterns you already knew.

He said, "Keep the light on."

Jack cursed softly under his breath and rubbed his forehead. "Don't say things like that."

"Why? What did I say?"

Jack drummed his fingers on the bedcovers and glanced away. "It's just... a little too close to fantasy."

Daniel felt like laughing. He stretched out on his back and clasped his hands behind his head. "Fantasy? You had fantasies about me?"

Jack frowned a little and tilted his head from side to side. "I tried not to," he said finally. He didn't sound like he tried very hard. Daniel smiled.

"Actually..." he said.

"Actually?" Jack echoed.

Daniel stared up at the ceiling. "I had some, too. Some of my own." He glanced at Jack, who raised both eyebrows and sat very still. All but his thumbs, which tapped the covers repeatedly.

"Before we... Before that," Daniel said, "it was strange stuff. I remember wanting to rub your shoulders one time. You just looked like you needed it. Little things like that."

"And afterward?"

Daniel looked into his eyes and half-smiled. "You told me not to say those things."

Jack smirked. "You're winding me up."

"I'm winding you up," Daniel agreed. "Although it's true."

Jack cocked an eyebrow and smiled at him, one of those rare, soft, unguarded smiles. Daniel savored it, floated in its warmth.

"Jack," he said softly. "Take your clothes off."

Jack sort of hissed and pulled his undershirt off. Daniel watched the arcing of his spine, the lines of muscle and bone moving. Noticed flecks and tiny lines in his skin. He tentatively touched one with his middle finger.

"You have scars on your back."

"I have scars everywhere." Jack dropped his shirt on the floor and leaned back. He lifted his hips and under the covers removed his undershorts. He slid down, settled comfortably on his side, and looked at Daniel. He looked calm, peaceful, but Daniel saw him swallow hard, saw his fingers twitch.

"I don't know what to do," Daniel said and paused. "I mean, I do, but I don't know what you want to do, what you like to do." He licked his lips nervously and bit the lower one.

"Daniel, we're naked in bed together. I don't care what we do."

Daniel gazed past him, at the bedside lamp. He wanted to say, _Do whatever you want to_, but the words weren't quite there. It was still too new, too overwhelming, to want Jack so much. He wasn't ready for the power of those words, of speaking them and making them real.

Jack slid closer, reached to unclasp Daniel's hands and bring them forward. He held the left one loosely, rubbing the knuckles with his thumb. Daniel spread his fingers and locked their hands together and pulled Jack forward, and Jack kissed him. That he could be so gentle, but so obviously hungry, was another new thing. Another thing to learn.

They made out like that, kissing, touching, bringing their bodies together. All of it new, all of it to be learned. Discovered with the senses, memorized and stored. Given and shared and kept.

Daniel was charting his way around Jack's body in typical Daniel fashion: tactile and curious and fearless. Jack soaked in every touch and matched them. Indulged. All while learning Daniel's taste, the moist, yielding softness of his lips. It was impossible, this couldn't be happening but it was.

They lay side-by-side, facing each other, pressed close. Daniel glided his hand up Jack's thigh and hip and side. Jack rested his hand on Daniel's waist and rubbed gently, back and forth. The smooth warmth of Daniel's skin, the firm curves of muscle and bone.

Daniel was growing hard, and it was the sensation from dreams, from fantasies, from memory. His cock filling and swelling and lifting, brushing against Jack's skin. Jack rocked his hips and shuddered.

Daniel looked down between their bodies. _He's looking at me,_ Jack realized, and a rush of intoxicating heat flowed through his body. Made his palms and forehead sweat, made his cock twitch. Daniel touched the shaft of Jack's dick lightly with his fingertips. Stroked it curiously. Jack throbbed, in his dick, in his heart, all over, and sucked in a breath.

Daniel looked at him and smiled softly. His fingertips circled over Jack's tip. Jack expected him to say something, but he didn't. He seemed immersed in the moment, and happy in his immersion. Jack rested his hand on the back of Daniel's neck and pulled him into a long, deep kiss. No way, no reason, to hold back now.

Starving and greedy, he kissed Daniel's face, and neck, and shoulders, and chest. Kissed one hard, peaked nipple, and Daniel writhed and ran his fingers through Jack's hair. Jack caressed his sides, his hips, and moved him onto his back. Jack slid over him, kissing his hands, and fingers, and wrists. Daniel wiggled his fingers and combed them through Jack's hair. He ran his hands over Jack's shoulders and tried to pull him up, but Jack edged back with a smile.

Underneath him Daniel took a deep, shaky breath which made his body quiver. Jack looked him over, savoring the sight. The low lamplight a soft glow on his skin and softening the intensity of his eyes, which watched Jack with wide, dark pupils. Jack kissed his chest and stomach. Felt the shivers in Daniel's skin as he breathed. He kept kissing, licking, caressing with his lips.

Jack was halfway off the bed and about to fall off at this rate. He let himself slide off at the foot and knelt on the thin, scratchy carpet. From this angle, all he could see were Daniel's feet and legs, and between his thick, powerful thighs, the dark, swollen sac of his balls, and the curve of his hard dick.

Jack grabbed Daniel by the hips. "Come here," he said, and dragged him down the bed.

Daniel raised up on his elbows. "What are you--? Oh..." His voice melted as Jack's tongue touched his balls. He fell back onto the bed. "Ohhhh," he murmured.

_Oh yeah,_ thought Jack, _make that sound for me._ He slid his tongue over the heavy sac, tasted sweat and musk and heat. He ran his hands along Daniel's thighs, scratched lightly at the dusting of hair.

Before, he hadn't had time to savor, hadn't had time to think about it or enjoy it. Now, he was trying his best to make up for that, despite the urgency in his blood, in his body, the urgency in Daniel's body. He licked the length of Daniel's shaft, and was rewarded with a low moan. He licked again, and followed the shape of it with his tongue. The curve, the veins, the crown and tip and tiny slit. Daniel writhed against the bed and made a kind of hissing sound. Jack parted his lips around the head and took him into his mouth.

Different from before, except for the taste. The taste which had been in his memory, lingering on his tongue, all this time. He licked and sucked and stroked with his lips and teeth, until he drew a streak of liquid from the slit. He wanted to go slow and savor, but this was too much. Too impossible, but happening all the same: Daniel in his mouth, Daniel moaning, Daniel burning for him.

He took more of him in, sucking hard and tightly. Raising and lowering, rubbing, drinking, urging. Daniel slid one hand to Jack's shoulder and clutched him, his body tense. Then he thrust, and Jack moaned for more. Wanted that, wanted all of it. He moved faster, pulling, sucking, rolling his mouth around the thick, solid heat of Daniel's cock. Daniel thrust and tensed again, gasped out a choked moan, and came. Sharp, fast, hot bursts filled Jack's mouth, filled his throat as he swallowed.

Licking up all of it, he released Daniel gently, kissed his stomach, and slid back onto the bed, stretching out on his side. Daniel blinked up at the ceiling. Spent and satisfied and drowsy. Jack reached over and stroked his hair.

After a few moments, Daniel tilted his head to look at him. Jack combed his fingers through the short hairs wisping over Daniel's forehead. Daniel's gaze moved lower and he looked at Jack's cock, full and hard.

"Um," Daniel said, questioning.

"Um," Jack confirmed.

Daniel reached over and touched it. Let his fingers glide along its length, down to Jack's balls. He curved his palm over them, and Jack rocked, rubbing against his hand.

It was strange to be doing this, Daniel thought, but not as strange as he would have imagined. It was also amazing, arousing, incredible, to be doing this. To know how much Jack wanted him, to see it, to feel it.

He thought of taking Jack into his mouth. He'd never done that, never considered doing it, but he figured he could. On the other hand, he didn't want to do it badly, so maybe he should wait. And besides, he liked this: touching, and watching.

He wrapped his hand around Jack's shaft and squeezed. Jack groaned and rocked again. Daniel could feel his pulse, a deep throb, and all of his strength. He kept his hand tight around Jack's cock and stroked, pulling up from the base. Jack breathed out and thrust, and Daniel felt how full he was, how close. Amazing, incredible. He stroked faster, rubbing, squeezing, jerking. He watched the moist, swollen, darkened head sliding in his fist, between his fingers. Resonant pangs of pleasure echoed in his body, and burned under the touch of Jack's fingers trailing along his arm.

Jack grasped his wrist but didn't guide his hand, just held on as Daniel pulled faster and harder. And then Jack thrust, moaned deeply, and dug his fingers into Daniel's wrist. He came, in thick bursts that poured over his stomach, over Daniel's fingers. Daniel watched, panting, until Jack let go of his wrist. Daniel released him carefully, and Jack rolled onto his back.

Daniel slid back on the bed, until his shoulder touched Jack's. He raised his hand and tasted one finger, licked Jack's come from it. Sticky, bitter.

"Christ," Jack whispered. Daniel glanced over, and Jack was watching him. Looking intense, serious, but something else. Soft, somehow. Like he was just about to smile.

Jack leaned over and kissed his forehead. "Go get cleaned up."

Daniel took a quick shower, trying not to think of what came next. He didn't know what came next, only what he hoped it would be. He went back to the bedroom, and Jack was still sprawled over the bed. He hadn't moved.

He sat up when Daniel climbed into bed, looked at him for a moment, then went off to take a shower. Daniel was almost asleep when he returned. He felt the warm, damp weight of him against his body, smelled soap and shampoo and toothpaste.

"This bed is really uncomfortable," Daniel said. It was; Daniel had slept on more comfortable rocks.

Jack wrapped an arm around him, pressed a cheek against the back of Daniel's shoulder. "Yeah, I know." After a pause, he added, "We could go."

Daniel opened his eyes and turned around, keeping Jack's arm around his waist. "No, that wasn't... I didn't mean I wanted to go home." He looked into Jack's eyes. "I want to stay."

Jack was silent for a moment. He caressed Daniel's stomach with his thumb. "We can only stay the night."

"Yes. I know."

Jack nodded a little, as if to himself. Daniel stroked his arm, up to his shoulder.

"I've watched you shower," Daniel said. "I was never sure why. I guess now it makes sense."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "You shouldn't tell me these things."

"Why not?"

Jack shrugged with one shoulder, the one under Daniel's stroking hand. "I don't know. It's weird."

Daniel smiled a little. "There's a lot of weird here. I think we better get used to it."

Jack's thumb stopped moving over Daniel's skin. "Daniel."

Daniel stared at him and waited for him to say something else, but instead Jack just kissed his forehead again. He let go and switched off the light, and lay on his back. Daniel settled against him, finding a spot on his shoulder to rest his head.

"I'm still wondering about certain things," he said in the dark silence.

Jack touched the back of his neck, rubbed it gently. After a while, he said quietly, "Not that many, and it was a while ago. Never while I was with Sara."

Daniel stroked Jack's chest. "You haven't been with another man since before your marriage?"

Jack scratched the short hairs on the back of Daniel's neck. "I'm not a cheap date." He sounded amused, like it was a joke.

"I'm not looking for a cheap date," Daniel said. He felt a tingling in his bones now, the feeling of discovery and uncertainty. The feeling he got when uncovering something new.

"What are you looking for?" Jack asked quietly.

"I'm not sure," Daniel admitted. He nestled closer and kissed Jack's chest. "But maybe I found it anyway."

Daniel fell asleep, and Jack listened to his breathing. Soft snores. Jack didn't move. He watched the darkness and thought, _What did he find?_

He caressed Daniel's back lightly, enjoying the warmth and the weight of Daniel resting against him. Maybe it didn't matter what Daniel had found. Maybe all that mattered was that he found it.

And Jack had found... He wanted to say he had found something unexpected, but that wasn't quite right. More like impossible, unbelievable.

He finally fell asleep, and slept deeply, lost in an unremembered dream, and woke up to find Daniel curled on his side, watching him.

"Hello."

Daniel smiled softly. "Hello." He reached out and touched Jack's arm, skimmed his fingers down to Jack's hand. "This is the part where you tell me it's impossible and we can never do this again."

Jack clasped his hand. "Can we skip that part?"

Daniel raised his eyebrows. "I don't know. Can we?"

"It's not going to be easy." Jack squeezed his hand. "In fact, it's going to suck in a lot of ways."

Daniel looked at their clasped hands and smiled a little. "It'd be easier if you were a cheap date."

Jack cocked an eyebrow. Daniel let go of his hand, and Jack shifted onto his back. Daniel stretched out and rested his head on Jack's chest. He folded his hands over his stomach.

"I want to try," Daniel said. "I don't like to give up."

"So I noticed." Jack ran his fingers through Daniel's hair. "I want to try, too. We just have to be careful." He paused and ruffled Daniel's hair. "No screwing in the SGC," he murmured, smiling.

Daniel tilted his head back. "Screwing? There's going to be screwing?"

"Daniel..."

"It's just a question." Daniel settled comfortably and closed his eyes and looked smug. Jack resumed stroking his hair. "For future reference... Just gathering data..."

Jack closed his eyes and felt warm and lazy. He remembered his dream: the walls, the road. And at the end of it, Daniel in firelight, waiting.

A journey with a destination after all.

(the end)


End file.
